He Likes Me. I Like Him

Our wedding day was a simple one. We were wed in a two-story Victorian house. As my maid-of-honor, wearing a forest green knee-length dress, walked down the stairs, she was greeted by seventy-five guests. When the piano player played "Here comes the bride..." I, too, walked down the stairs in a traditional white gown wearing a veil and a string of pearls around my neck -a gift from my parents, and holding a small bouquet of flowers. I was greeted by my dad. He walked me to the front of the room, to Rudy who was looking quite dapper in his black suit and red tie. Rudy's best-man stood to his right, also wearing a black suit and my maid-of-honor stood to my left. Our bilingual priest stood in the front, centered. When the ceremony ended, the small crowd was encouraged to eat the buffet-style food and to simply enjoy themselves. Our day, our simple day. Exactly as we had hoped.

When Rudy proposed to me, it really was just a question intertwined among the many things we were discussing. Kind of like, "How was your day?" "Fine." "You want to get married?" "Yeah." As simple as that. Within three months of that should-be-heavy-question, we were married. We've never looked back. Our decision was our own, the right one.

When our wedding day ended; when we woke up as a married couple the next morning, we knew that our relationship, our lifetime together, was beginning right then and there. For us, it wasn't about the ceremony but rather about what lay ahead. Good times, and difficult ones too. Of course, we could only imagine what great times we would have, but there was no way we even discussed any not-so-great times. We didn't know what was in store for us. All we knew for sure was that we both loved each other, and just as important Rudy really liked me (and still does) and that I really liked him (and still do). Loving each other seems obvious; what we know now is that liking each other cemented our relationship.

The other day, twenty-five point seven years after our "I do's", as Rudy and I were walking along, hand-in-hand, he said to me, "I love you. You are so good for me. You make my life so much better. Without you.... I don't want to think about it." I responded simply with, "I love you, too, Rud." Then he continued. "What is really cool, though, is not only do I love you, but I really like you, a lot! I think you are an awesome person. I like the kind of wife you are; the kind of mother you are. I just like you!" I hugged him, hugged him tight. He's my Rudy. I love him and, oh boy, do I really like Rudy, too.