12.25.2021
Galin and I grew up in different states, but our churches met for a big camp meeting once a year. When I was about fifteen years old, I started noticing him. He was tall and had eyes that matched the color of his hair. I was painfully shy back then, and he was kind of quiet too, so I didn’t think anything would ever happen between us.
One day, when I was sixteen years old, I walked in the front door after school, and Mom handed me a letter with a smile on her face. I was shocked to see it was from GALIN! I thought it was a joke, but she assured me it was for real.
That was the beginning of our love story. Over the next several months, we wrote hundreds of letters back and forth, and he came to visit every weekend he could.
The more I got to know him, the more I loved him. When we weren’t together, I wished we were. He made me feel beautiful, safe and loved. I couldn’t wait for him to ask me to be his wife so we could spend all our days together.
He asked me to marry him on Christmas day and made me the happiest girl in the whole U.S.A!
Fifteen months after receiving that first letter, I became his wife. It was one of the happiest days of my life. I could not quit smiling and my face ached by the time we left for our honeymoon!
God gave us almost 26 years together. I always thought we would be that couple who was wrinkled, old, and gray and still holding hands everywhere we went.
I am so grateful for the love we shared and the family I have as a result of that love. They make life worth living.
Merry Christmas to you, my friends! xox