it's the anniversary of our engagement!

biff and i met ice skating on january 9, 1992!  we got engaged on the ice at rockefeller center in new york on december 30, 1993.  and there are about  9,732 stories somewhere in between.  one thing for sure, we love to celebrate anniversaries!  i love a good tradition and as biff says, "if it's happened once, it's a tradition!"

we had the longest meet story of anyone we know.  it began about 2 skating seasons before we actually spoke to each other. i grew up going to a local ice skating rink named christopher morley.  before that, the only place i had skated was at polliwog pond.  my dad used to take me and my friend, suzy to christopher morley.

i started skating at christopher morley one winter, when i decided to just do what i loved.....just for me.  just 'cuz i was tired of asking people to go skating and listening to everyone say they hadn't skated in years, couldn't and wouldn't even consider it!  it was then that i realized that i had a five year old niece, who lived nearby, who would love to learn and it would be a fun activity for us!

let the skating begin!  and we did.  every thursday night.  any weather, as long as their was ice.  we had a great time together.  it was fun for me to do what i loved with a little person that i loved!  who knew the love that would follow.  love is in the air!

we skated together thursday nights and sunday late afternoons.  we talked and skated and skated and talked.  we had birthdays on the ice for my niece claire and we brought claire's little friends.  it was a great activity for both of us.  i was getting great exercise and she was learning something new to master and give her even more confidence.

again and again, i noticed a nice guy skating on thursday nights. he wore a baseball cap, a windbreaker, bluejeans and hockey skates.  he had a mustache and horn rimmed glasses.  he was good looking and in good shape.  must work at brooks brothers....nearby....he has that kind of look!

so, round and round we skated for two seasons.  and one thursday night, my niece was not able to come skating.  she had a cold.  i was disappointed but happy to get myself to the rink.  i loved skating.  i always loved skating and it was fun with friends or alone.

that night, as i finished up skating, i took  off my skates, put on my boots, wiped off my blades.....and i walked out the door and up the ramp toward the car.

it was then that my life changed forever!  biff, just a bit ahead of me, turned to look at me and said, "where's your girl?"  i said, "my girl, everyone always thinks that!  she's my niece!  she has a cold!"

apparently, biff had tried many times to talk but becacuse my attention was on claire, i never noticed!  wow!  that story could go on and on and on!  thankfully, biff talked to me when he did, because for us both, the riming was just right!  no boyfriends for me....no girlfriends for him.  it was so nice that we met.  all i remember thinking was......wow! what a great guy!  that was so fun to meet him!.......even though i had seen him at the rink, it just was one of those things.....i wasn't there to meet someone,  it hadn't ever occurred to me.  i was really, truly skating because i loved it.....since i was little.

and so did biff!  he had been skating since he was very little and just loved it.  so, since he worked nearby, he skated there on thursday nights.

it was so much fun to meet at the rink.  we used to say "skate and date"....it made our "getting to know you" phase so easy and such fun.....and even claire got to meet him early on!  that was great too!

the year flew by.....he knew my favorite numbers were 123......we had talked about marriage...we had met each others parents......we had met each others friends.....we had lots of skate dates and lots of walks on the boardwalk.  we had rollerbladed to the beach when the skating season ended. we had boogie boarded together.  we had seen movies together.  we had gone to concerts together.  we had gone to baby baptisms together. we had gone to weddings together.  we had vacationed together.  we had fallen in love on the ice!

we got engaged on the ice at rockefeller center.  that story of getting engaged could go on til next year.  he did get down on his knee, on the ice....with the christmas tree at rockefeller center right behind him!  he said, "liz, we do such crazy things together..............let's do crazy things for the rest of our lives.......will you marry me?"

that's when tears began pouring down my face......happy tears......tears of joy!  of course, the answer was yes!

my life is better because of him.  he makes me a better person. we work really hard to work together.  we love each other and we try to show it everyday.  we have our bothers and pecadillos....and we talk them out.  we work together to figure out the hard stuff. we do our best to parent. we try....and try....and try.  we respect each other. we respect each other's families.  we love them.  they are the ones who have made each other who we are.  we love to be with each other.  we appreciate the others need to be alone.  we love our children deeply.  we love our own families.  we love our friends. we love each other.  we believe in each other. we support each other. we trust each other.  we are best friends.  we show our love for each other every day.

and although my nickname from my mom was little mary mix up, he doesn't even blink....when one of my life mixups occurs.  thank God that one of his greatest gifts and one of my greatest gifts is  a sense of humor.  we are serious about our lives, but our sense of humor saves us from the drama of life.  and life has alot of drama.  we trust in God.  we trust each other to look out for each other.  we are truly in love and treasure our love everyday....even when we're too tired to shout it from the rooftops.   it's the quiet that's the best......the quiet knowing and trusting.....that we are partners side by side.

anniversaries and traditions are fun.  what's not to love.....we met ice skating and got engaged on ice.....let's celebrate!  it's the anniversary of our engagement!