Mike and I met when I was 16 and working as a cosmetic clerk at Drug Emporium in Cherry Hill. He was a pharmacy tech and just happened to wander by one day and asked if I wanted a slice of pizza. I declined the offer for a slice but it began a conversation that has continued for 15 years.

Mike is my best friend and he knows things about me that no one else ever gets to see or hear about lucky him!

I recall our first date being bowling and Friendly's following a break up with a previous boyfriend. As I recall from our early dates, he opened the car door, brought me flowers, he got involved in my life and listened when I talked. To this day, he still does all these things!

I keep a journal on our headboard full of the daily things that Mike does that keep this working; there are so many BUT if I had to break things down into one of my famous lists, this is how it would look:

As Ashley said, we met when I was 20 and working at the now defunct Drug Emporium. (Where there now stands a Wal-Mart YUCK!!). I remember asking if she wanted a slice of pizza, which she declined, but shortly after that, she gave me her phone number. I remember putting off calling her becuase I knew she was involved with someone. Eventually that relationship ended, and we started seeing each other. I have fond memories of those times at Drug Emporium. The thing that sticks in my mind from that time was when we hung out in the parking lot after work for so long that my car over heated!

There is some difference of opinion as to what our first "date" was. Ashley says that it was bowling and Friendly's. I say it was a movie - one of the "Chucky" movies to be exact. I seem to remember my brother coming along for that bowling adventure, though I'm probably wrong. I remember her having to leave the theatre to call home, but couldn't find a phone other than one in a bar that was next to the theatre. Crazy Eddie's maybe?

Ashley centers me, she is my touchstone when life gets overwhelming for me (which it does often). We are indeed different in so many ways, but in a way that I feel compliments each other. I am the dead serious, pessimistic, responsible one. She is the always optomistic, fun loving romantic.

• Her heart is so full of love that it's amazing that it stays in her chest.
• She is an eternal optomist.
• My happiness matters.
• She is a fantastic mother.
• My interests are always important to her - and she supports me in whatever endeavor I'm undertaking.
• She always puts the needs of others at the top of her list.
• Her creativitiy is amazing.
• She is genuine, she doesn't try to be something that she is not.
• Her drive to do her absolute best at whatever it is she is doing.

• Her organizational skills.
• The long hours that she subjects herself to with work.
• The occasional Shopping Spree.