Milestones

Nine years ago today, I met Clyde at his house, spent the evening chatting, and reluctantly drove back to Kosciusko, wondering if I had met The One.

Nine years. We’ve been together nine years.

When Clyde and I met, the hot new single was Whitney Houston’s I Will Always Love You. Surpassed only by 60 Minutes, the second most popular television show in America was Rosanne. (Shows three and four were Home Improvement and Cheers.) At theaters, we lined up for Jurassic Park, The Fugitive, and Mrs. Doubtfire.

1993 was the year Bill Clinton took office (half the people at the Bible College where I worked took this as a sign of the end of the world). He even proposed an end to the military ban on homosexuals (which convinced the other half of people at the Bible College that the end was nigh).

Nine years ago, I was all of twenty-eight years old, still young enough to drop one career (preaching and professoring) for another (corporate training). I thought nothing of taking a 50% pay cut to move to Jackson and Be With My Man.

In many ways, 1993 was the year I quit drifting and began generating my own direction. I was no longer interested in preaching (a choice I made just to make my mother proud). I was no longer interested in living a double life, and decided to be honest with everyone, including my family, about who I was and who I loved (a choice I made that didn’t make my mother proud).

In 1993, I grew past my family’s image of me and became who I wanted to be. That same year, I gave up on ever finding a man to share my life with … and then found that man almost immediately afterward.

In short, 1993 started the beginning of the best nine years of my life.

In a lot of ways, I’m a very different person than I was then. One thing, however, is still the same: I’m in love with a quiet, gentle man who loves me back.

Happy Anniversary, Clyde. Nine years later, I love you even more.