See this picture? At the time that picture was taken, I was convinced that the man standing to my right was perfect. No, really. Perfect, as in, without flaw. Sometime during our second year of marriage I found out that wasn't true. Ends up, that's okay.

 

Avram and I are sort of an odd match. We met in college. We had the same group of friends, and I still remember our first meeting. I was convinced he was some sort of recovering drug addict. His hair was down his back and he had this wicked facial hair going on. Never in my entire life had I been attracted to anyone with long hair. I had always gone for the very clean cut Abercrombie and Fitch look. However, he was very handsome. I introduced myself and he seemed unimpressed with me, which wasn't what I was expecting. In fact, he hardly said a word to me at all. So it went.

I was initially attracted to Avram because of everything he didn't say. The guys in our group frequently reminded me of strutting roosters. In a conversation it was as if the one who spoke the most won, even if what you were saying wasn't really that funny or smart or even relevant to the conversation. Avram was quiet most of the time. You would almost get the impression that he wasn't paying attention at all, and then out of the blue he would come out with the most interesting, intelligent, thought-provoking comment of the night. He didn't get off on hearing himself speak, and that was very attractive to me. He had my attention.

 

So I did what you might expect a college aged girl such as myself to do- I asked my girlfriends about him. They would know- and if they didn't, they would find out. And it just kept getting better. He loved reading, just like me, and he was in engineering, which meant he had income potential (I'm shameless). He worked out a lot, I found out. I didn't work out. But I started going to the gym, just, you know, in the off chance he would be there. My efforts eventually paid off. On the stationary bikes our first date was set. 

 

After that first date, we were pretty inseparable. I continued to be shocked at how perfect this guy was. It was just amazing. He was smart, funny, handsome, agreeable, we shared many of the same goals and enjoyed the same activities...He wrote poetry, had read a billion books, possessed these peck muscles of steel.... And he worshipped me! (But not in a creepy way....)

 

So we got married. In college. Our parents were not happy about it, trust me. It's not like they could really do anything anyway; we were both financially independent at that point. Nevertheless, they loved us and were concerned. They held an intervention at Avram's dad's house, and one of our moms finally came out with "Is there anything that would possibly prevent you from just waiting until you graduate to get married?" Avram said: "If one of us is dead or in a coma. But that's it."  Hence the picture above. And it was great. Of course later I found out he wasn't perfect. He didn't know how to wash clothes. He brushed his teeth funny, and honestly, could be an arrogant ass sometimes. Turns out that's okay though, because I can be a selfish bitch sometimes. 

 

Occasionally after a weepy romantic movie, I become sad that this honeymoon period of our relationship is over. However, I wouldn't want to do it all over again- start at the very beginning. Avram and I have really had to fight to get to where we are right now- in life, in our relationship. We're a great team. We work very well together. As we go on, I'm sure I'll discover more things about him that aren't perfect, and he'll discover more things about me that aren't incredible either. Maybe that's just what being married is all about. Long term relationships and all of that jazz. How am I supposed to know? I've only been at this for 4.5 years. It's not like I was handed a manual to marriage at the beginning of all of this. And besides, he's still 99% perfect, right?