I’ve often said that the best day of my life was August 31, 2008.

While that was a truly awesome day, was it actually the best?

I think every day since has been pretty special.  The fact that I found my one and only, and grown deeper in love since, is a pretty cool thing.  We’ve survived everything thrown at us so far.  Death, illness, and all manners of stress have not taken us down. Broken bones, bruised faces, and bad bad days.  There were mornings I felt like I could not go on.  She picked me up, and we just kept going.

When we met, all was hunky dory.  Well, not quite…I was miserable in my dead-end job at the Record Store, but we had no health challenges to speak of.  We were dating (sort of) long distance, with her in Brampton and me in Kitchener.  I picked her up in Brampton on a lot of Friday nights.  She took the train home on Monday mornings.  For three years!  We made it work.  Our families got along.  Four months after we met, and with her support, I finally quit that terrible job.  I have not regretted it for one moment.  I have said it before, but I don’t know if I would have had the confidence to quit if not for Jen.

We knew it was just a matter of time before we had to make it official.  We got engaged.  With six months to go before the wedding, I started noticing signs that something was wrong.  Jen and I loved played Nintendo Wii, and she was very competitive.  So was I!  When I noticed her spacing out during one of her favourite games, and having no memory of the previous few minutes, I knew it was time to call the doctor.  Jen, being the stubborn girl that I love, didn’t want to go, so I called her mom and dad.  She was diagnosed with epilepsy, which is what I had suspected.

So say this illness has changed our lives would be an understatement.  It would be safe to say that epilepsy has impacted every single aspect of our lives.

It’s only made us stronger, smarter, and more devoted.  Maybe we can’t go on movie dates like other couples, and sometimes the days get terribly stressful.  But here we are.  As committed as we were in that church, on that day in 2008.

I love my Jen.  Here’s to us!