"When did you get married.... 12?"

Today during a photo shoot I was reminded once again from the client of how young I look.  Over the phone she thought I was in my 40s at least (based on my voice) then she is surprised to see me in person.  As we talked she realized I had a 12 year old daughter and asked the million dollar question "How old am I?"

I find it extremely funny and yet still flattering when people think I am at least 10 years younger than I look.  But no matter how many times I hear it, it still catches me off guard.

What really freaks them out is when I tell them I've been married for almost 15 years.  Their first reaction is... "How old were you.... 12?"  Sometimes I reply with... "Actually we were 9.  We met at the playgound, she asked if she could finish off my peanuts... I thought she said something else... we had a good laugh... Then I put a cheerio on her finger and BAM!!!!  We're married."

Now I do admit being 19 and married was young.  At the time I didn't think so... of course at the time I thought I was invincible too.  Now my daughter is only 5 years away from my wife's age when she got married and I'm thinking... "Oh hell no... that ain't happening"  Matter of fact... I got a wife beater shirt and a baseball bat by the front door just waiting for her first boyfriend to come knock'n.

Funny thing is... there is no way I would change a thing.  Even though I was 19 I still had a year and a half of college finished.  I had my party time my freshman year and soon realized that I didn't need that my whole life.  And since my dad was such a screw up, I couldn't wait to show myself I could be a better father than he could ever dream of.  Not to mention with all of the moving around I did I had to grow up fast.

I still remember telling my wife when we were first together that I would show her the world and give her anything she ever needed in life.  A few years ago she told me she still remembers me saying that to her and thought at the time "Yeah right..."  But true to my word she was surprised I followed through on that promise.

So 15 years later and I couldn't have wished for a better marriage or a more perfect person to share my life with.  And yet we both look like we are in our early 20s still.  It will be interesting another 8 more years from now.  Our kids will be out of highschool and we will have the rest of our lives to go around the world... maybe living in France for awhile who knows.  When many people are just starting their families we will have already done and did all of that.  And most likely nobody will believe us.  But that will be just fine with me.  I may be 33 and look 23 at times.... but I still feel like a kid inside.