How It All Started
In the early part of 2003, we were both looking for more in a relationship that we had found before and not having any luck meeting anyone who could fullfill our lives, we both had decided to try the Yahoo! Personal's as a method to find someone. I (Rusty) had several dates with people I had met through the service but none that I knew I wanted to spend my life with. One day as I was browsing the ads, I found Shannon's and was immediately taken by her photo and the attitudes and intelligence that was shown by her writing. I noticed that she was on Yahoo! Messenger so I sent her a message asking that if she wasn't busy would she like to chat a bit. Well she agreed and after chatting for more than just a bit we decided that we should meet and planned a lunch date in the Old Town Spring area which was close to her home.
The lunch went well and it turned into a full afternoon of browsing the shops, talking and laughing. As the day progressed we ran out of time for shopping but decided to meet again that evening for dinner and a pool game or two. I picked her up that evening at her home and met her two daughters and knew I had found someone very special. Our dinner date and games of pool went great and when I took her home I received a kiss outside her door that I will never forget. Leaving her there at her home, I watched the miles on my truck go by so I would know just how far apart we were and how quickly I could be in her arms again. But, alas that was not to be, at least not yet.
The following Monday, I received an email from Shannon and she told me that there was someone in her life that she felt deserved a second chance and that she needed to find out if he was the one she was looking for. Well, I was heart broken to say the least, but not overly surprised as I had a tendency to send the ladies I went out with screaming back to their old boyfriends. This could have been the end of the story.....
.... except that there are some very stupid men out there who don't know a good woman when they find one! I am very happy this is true, for two weeks later, while I was working, Shannon's Yahoo! ID popped up on my message screen and she wanted to know if I would still be willing to talk to her. Talk to her? I hadn't stopped thinking about her since we last saw each other! That 're-introduction' turned into a lunch date, which turned into more dates, which became a love that surpassed any I had known before.
We spent many glorious days together and I spent more time with her kids and she met mine and spent time with them. We brought them all together for a trip to the beach and boating on the bayou. By late May, we both knew that we had found the one we were meant to find and began looking at wedding ring sets. On the 25th of June I made a few arrangements and purchased the set that she had decided she liked the most from Zales Jewelers. That evening we had a dinner date but she was unaware that I had already gotten the ring. When I went to pick her up at her home, I pulled her two daughters into the kitchen and showed them the rings and asked them for their permission to marry their mom. Luckily they said it would be ok and it was the most wonderful way to start the evening. Still unknowing of what was going to happen, Shannon and I left and went to Zio's Italian Kitchen restaurant where I had reserved us a table. We ordered some wine and as we waited for our salads to arrive, I pulled the ring box out of my boot where it was hidden, got down on my knee and asked her if she would make my life complete and make me the happiest man in the world and be my wife. Guess what! She said Yes! Woo Hoo!
Well, between then and now (March 2004), many things have been worked out, a home sold, bills paid, living arrangements figured out, trips taken (New Orleans almost ended it!), wedding dresses and tuxes purchased, about a ton of silk flowers bought, decorations made, invitations sent and a wedding was planned. On March 20, the first day of spring, we shall become a complete family as we share our wedding with our family and friends.
