She couldn't have been more right, and the next four years of my life were all about you. I fell for you so hard and fast.
The very next summer, we were dating and it was me and you every day. Riding in the tractor cutting hay together, riding around in the truck and staying out way too late, dreaming together about all the what ifs. Maybe one day we could have a house right where that A-frame stands on Wheeler lane. Remember when it was all just a dream?
That summer was a dream, straight out of every country love song. It was the summer before my junior year. School started up again and as they say, all good things must come to an end. You decided it wasn't a good idea to be in college and have a high school girlfriend, and you were probably right. So my tender heart broke for the first time.
The next couple of years were messy. We were still together all the time, and I didn't stop loving you once, even the times we parted and dated other people. Nothing else ever stuck for me. We dated on and off between those years, and I swear they were hell on me.
The fall I was 19, we worked together on a cowboy outfit, and it was probably the most fun I'll ever have. Living in a sheep camp on the mountain, no phone service, no electricity...it was heaven and we'll never have that again. It was us, the ponies, the dogs and cows, and a few of our very good friends.
We were older now, and more serious about each other. We talked about marriage in the not-so-distant future, and what we would name our first child. You were Tyrell after Louis L'amour's Tyrel Sackett, and our baby had to be Tell! Remember when it was all just a dream?
The marriage talk scared you, and we parted ways yet again. That winter was terrible for me, being apart from you. The next spring, though, you started working for Ensign Ranches. Something in you changed. You were no longer a wild boy looking for a fun time, but someone a little more mature. You had landed a job where you could see a future, and so you could see one with me without being afraid. So, we started talking about marriage, living on this ranch and raising our babies. Remember when it was all just a dream?
We planned our wedding that summer and married in the fall, on your daddy's farm. It was a beautiful wedding and still one of my most favorite days. We moved onto the ranch and started talking about babies, who our babies would be and what they would look like...remember when it was all just a dream?
Shortly after our marriage I had terrible morning sickness, and then 9 more months of it. Our first little child came into the world the next summer. We named him Tell. Remember when all of this was just a dream?
Now here we are, 6 years after our first date. We've been married almost 2 years, and Tell is 13 months old. We're dreaming about our next baby; will it be a boy or a girl? We want Tell to have someone to play with. We're always talking baby names and reliving the day our perfect little boy was born. Remember when this was all just a dream?
I can't wait for that day in the future, when we're sitting together on our front porch looking over a green field at our broodmares, on this land that we bought, living in this house we built together. This life we built together. Maybe our daughter will call and say,
"It's time mama! The baby is coming!"
We will look at each other and smile and say, "Remember when this was all just a dream?"
