B met M when she started sixth grade. Although only four months younger than B, M was in fifth grade, the unfortunate result of being born two days after the cutoff date for starting school with B's class. B had a way of saying M's name that made me sure that he was more than just another guy. They dated off and on through most of school.
They went their separate ways for the most part. She went off to college. He went off to college. She transferred to a big university in another part of the state. Then she went to study abroad. He dropped out of college and went to a small village in Alaska where a lot of our classmates had gone. He started fishing and crabbing, working seasonally on boats and bartending in the off-season. Somehow B and M got in touch again. She graduated, went to work for the airlines. They got together again and never looked back.
Their wedding was beautiful. They set off on their life, a life that has had many, many twists and turns. They have been through several jobs, enormous financial ups and downs, a special needs child, deaths of parents, and long periods of time when they lived what seemed like 'parallel lives'. At the moment they are living a hand-to-mouth existence. The economic downturn has effected both their fields of work. They go through months where neither of them have any work. They have 3 grown children.
For them, an additional boost to their relationship came in the form of religion. About 15 years ago they became born-again Christians. It has given them a solid foundation on which to build the rest of their lives. It gives them strength to endure hardships and a set of rules to live by. It has really given them a way to navigate the waters of having a special needs child and seeing their jobs vanish right in front of them. They believe God will not only provide but will be there with them and protect them.
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