I'm 39 years old and have loved my wife for 56 years...

When I was 31 years old, my heart and mind had settled on the fact that I would never find a girl that could handle me, or my family. I had been married, had a son, gotten divorced, and dated a handful of women. I had a lot of fun, and learned many things- how most women want to be treated, and more importantly, what scared them off. Some of the girls I spent time with found me difficult and obnoxious, and some I found undesirable traits in, either way, the idea of being alone was something I was finding comfort in. I had spent 6 years trying to figure out what my priorities were, always dreaming and hoping that I would someday find someone who wanted me, and I them. When you peel all the layers of crazy away from a human being, we all just want to be wanted. But in 2005, I was done trying. I hadn't cried a tear in a very long time. I was all dried up. I had worked as an ER Nurse in the same small hospital since 2000, and knew most everyone. I had helped a handful of friends navigate the most efficient way of finding employment, and in June of 2006 found a young girl emailing me, asking what I thought would give her the best chance. She was a local girl, and wanted to be close to family. Kimberly was volunteering with a local ambulance as an EMT/ Firefighter, but had recently graduated from Nursing school. I had seen her from time to time in the past. She was nice, quiet, and beautiful. After dropping patients off in the ER, she would sit off to the side waiting for her co-workers to finish paperwork. I don't remember her ever speaking to me, but I did remember her. I responded to her emails by inviting her on an adventure we had planned. My friend Joshy was taking a group of us down the Kenai River in a driftboat. Drifting the Kenai is a great way to spend a day, and an exceptional first date. I sensed she enjoyed the day, and soon after, called her for another outing on the next beautiful Alaskan day. My son Porter and I took her way out swanson river road for a fishing trip on nest lake. I paddled, they caught, and we all had a great adventure. Kimmy kept me around for 2 years. She was the girl of my dreams, prettiest woman I ever saw, but my past was an open book, and my reputation was not as golden as she deserved. I can remember asking her (and myself) why a nice, pretty 26 year old girl was still on the open market. She said she didn't know why. I made her a hoodie that said "Too good for the bad boys, too bad for the good". I realized a while ago we all have a crazy thing in us, and it's the way two crazy's combine that make two people love each other. Her crazy was well within the normal range and she tolerated my crazy like no one had before. For two whole years. It wasn't easy on her. I have a beast in me that in my youth, liked to peek from within now and then. Perhaps it was the weight of my past, or the lifestyle I was living prior to meeting my Kimmy. The beast was not only peeking out from within, he was stepping out and dancing a little jig. We did have a great time for the most part. It wasn't a hurricane of teeth and fists(ZH) all the time, in fact in those two years, Kimmy had pulled me out of a dangerously rutted path that was leading nowhere. I once again enjoyed going to church weekly. I started praying daily. I was eating and sleeping like a normal person. I felt like Kim was making me a better human being. Way back then, I got to thinking about Fannon wives. We three brothers aren't perfect. We three have our own strengths, but... Ornery, difficult, stubborn. All the shit you read about in articles titled "What an asshole might be", we do most of them. I enjoy proclaiming that I'm the best of the three, yet that doesn't mean life loving me is easy. What I realized about Fannon wives was that living with a Fannon man could be scored in dog years. Those two years that my Kimmy spent with me probably felt like 14 years. There were bad days. I can remember one spectacular argument while working on her house. The particular trigger has been lost, and the thing that starts a fight doesn't usually matter because it is rarely the seed of the problem. The seed was rooted in the fact that I am an asshole deep down. During that argument, she was tired of my voice, and I couldn't stop yelling, so I left. A while later she called and said she'd thought about calling it quits. I felt the familiar pain in my heart, my eyes welled up with tears, and I saw that this girl had taken my dried up sponge of a heart, and saturated it once again, and I hadn't even realized it. I asked why she wasn't taking off on me, she responded "You have potential". From that point on, I put effort forth. I made her the investment in my future, and I wanted to be hers. We were married in 2008 and were quickly fruitful and multiplied and have lived happily ever after. Together for 56 years today, and I'm only 39. We still argue and there are days that need to be spent alone, but in total, Kimberly is my everything. Still the prettiest girl I ever saw.