The love story that is 17 years long and still going strong

My love story started when I was just 13 years old. I was hanging out with my best friend one day and she invited one of her friends over to hang out with us, little did I know that the person coming over would be my future husband. His name was Corey and I was immediately gaga over him. Not only did I think he was just the cutest but he was the first guy to ever listen to me, and I mean really listen, and not judge me for being a little bit odd, awkward, and clearly suffering from ADHD. He was 4 years older than me so at that time he was 17 and he was one of the only older guys that I had met up to that point that made it very clear that we would only be friends because that age gap, being very under age, was inappropriate. That made it very easy for me to open up to him and just be myself because I had no fear that he would be turned away by my personality because he was actively choosing to be my friend just because he enjoyed me and my company. At one point, I had a medical situation that I was very self conscious about and he was the only person I told, low and behold, I was not met with judgement but with real compassion. It was in that moment that I knew that this man had a heart of gold the size of Texas and that no matter what I would forever be able to trust him with anything. Around a year later he had turned 18 and ended up leaving our town.
Years go by and I never heard from him. At least once every 2 years I would think of him and search all social medias to see if he was out there and doing good. During that time I was in a very bad relationship with a not so great guy. He had gotten into a terrible car crash and I was the only one who got hurt. Long story short, it handicapped me and I could only walk with a cane for very short distances. During that time of just being at home alone, now that I had ridden myself of the toxic relationship I was in, I was on FB when Corey's FB page popped up in the people you may know section. I was now 26 years old and he was 30. I couldn't type out a message fast enough. I was so excited to get to find out how he was doing and what life had been like for him thus far. It took him about 2 days to reply because he was out of state for work. When he finally messaged me back, I learned that while we had very different experiences, we had both had a very hard go of it. It was as if no time had passed. He may have been older but that warm personality and heart that I once knew was still there. We made plans to get together once he was back in state. The week leading up to that day, I was a mixture of pure excitement and total anxiety. Would he think less of me now that I can't really walk? Would he think I was ugly because of the weight gain I had experienced due to being home bound? The moment he arrived at my house, all fears washed away and it felt like no time had passed. He talked for hours and it was amazing. After the second time hanging out, I was positive that I was in love with him and to my surprise, he felt that exact same way about me. We then spent almost every single day together, with him always finding a way to make time to come and see me even on days he worked all day...
It was only 2 months later that one night, while I was staying the night at his home, we walked into the kitchen to get something to eat and all of a sudden I had an uncontrollable urge to spend every single day with Corey for the rest of my life. So I asked him to marry me. Luckily, he isn't exactly traditional and said yes. 14 days later we were at the courthouse getting married with my dad as our only familial witness.
I wish I could say that life was easy together in those first years but alas, it was not. I became completely bed bound and required him to do almost everything for me. The shame I felt for him having to do so much more than any one person should have to was eating me alive. But he always made a point to tell me that he loved me and would do anything for me. It was 3 and a half years later that I finally got approved for the surgery that would give me my life back. For the surgery, he never left my side. He stayed at the hospital with me and nursed me back to health while I learned how to walk again. We had really thought that this was our time for life to give us a little break, but we were wrong. My best friend and only real family was my father and unfortunately he was diagnosed with stage IV colon cancer. The doctors gave him 1 year if he had no treatment but said that if he started chemo immediately, he would have closer to 3 years. So he started chemo, hoping that it would give him more time with me. He did chemo for 4 days every 2 weeks. It was not only the most devastating moment for me but it was a lot of stress on both me and Corey. Luckily, Corey understood my need to do anything and everything to make things easier for my dad. We both worked night and day to do all the things my dad did, which was so much more than I ever knew. My dad was at the 10 month mark since his diagnosis and was still managing to work full time until one day he came home from work and we had to immediately take him to the ER. He was in the ICU for 1 week when they told us that the only way he could ever leave was if he agreed to no more life saving measures and hospice care. His liver was failing and he could no longer walk. He died 6 days after being discharged. During this time, I was a wreck. My dads family kicked me and my husband out of my father's home and we became homeless. We spent 2 months barely being able to eat so we could afford a motel room to have a safe place to sleep. Corey would go to work for sometimes 14 hours to be able to provide for us both. We were able to claw our way out and to the most well-off that either of us had ever been. But while we were actively being at the lowest of lows, we would have these hours long conversations about how the only reason either of us had the strength to carry on was because we had one another.
This, here and now, is the life I imagined for Corey and I the night I asked him to marry me. But we often reflect on the very hard 4 years we spent together, and how it was through those moments that we were able to build a rock solid foundation built on an undying trust we have in each other.

These days, we have such a normal life compared to our humble beginnings. We recently moved into a beautiful home that had hard wood flooring. I found myself having to sweep the house at least once a day and even though I am able to walk again, standing for that long causes me immense pain. Corey suggested we get a robot to do the vacuuming and mopping. After doing a ton of research, we purchased the Mova P10 Ultra and it is 100% the smartest purchase we have ever made. Not only does our Mova helo to not cause unnecessary stress on my body, but with the time I save each night not having to tend to our floors, I get to spend those 2 hours spending quality time with my soul mate.

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