Twelve Wonderful Years

So, my wife gave me permission to track down the recent Doctor Who series on DVD/Blu Ray last night.

I’m so proud. It brought a tear to my eye, it did.

I’ve known this woman for 12 years. I first started talking to her back in 2000, the day after Valentine’s Day. I knew her from a message board called The Replica Prop Forum, or the RPF. It is a message board that focuses on the replication of Movie Props and Costumes, also discussing general pop culture topics. We’d participated in some of the same threads, particularly bagging on The Phantom Menace game for the Playstation, and how the only worthwhile part to it was the inclusion of the “Duel of the Fates” music video.

Look it up if you’re confused.

Anyway, I dropped her a message on AOL Instant Messenger. Yeah, remember that? Anyway, since she talked about TIE Pilot costuming, and I was into X-Wing Pilot costuming, I did some geek message thing talking about shooting her TIE Fighter out of the sky.

Seemed like a good idea at the time, but in retrospect, I’m surprised my daughter exists.

Anyway, she actually talked to me, and we started conversing regularly. When I say regularly, I mean, every time I’m not at work or in the bathroom. Hours spent chatting online or on the phone. I don’t want to know how much I spent on pre-paid phone cards, since we didn’t want to pay for long distance at the apartment.

In May of that year, I took a week of vacation and flew out to Southern California, where we met face to face. That also happened to be on the 15^th of the month. We hit Disneyland, which for me was the first time. We hit Universal Citywalk, where I purchased her a TIE Pilot Helmet for her costume. Not one of the small ones, but a Don Post Classic Action. We checked out toy stores and comic shops and her local geek hangouts and had a great time. By the end of that week, I knew this was the woman I wanted to spend the rest of my life with.

In July of that year, she flew out to Indiana, helped me pack up, and moved me out to California. From there, it’s history. We’ve bounced between California and Indiana a few times, Cali from 2000 to 2002, Indiana from 2002 to 2007, Cali from 2007 to 2010, and back to Indiana.

When we were in Indiana, in 2004, at the Indianapolis Irish Fest, I popped the question with a claddagh that I found there that I thought was perfect. Needless to say, I prefaced the question with “Hon, you know how you give me a hard time by never planning anything out? Well, here’s some more ammo for you…”

We got married in Las Vegas on Halloween, 2005. It was a small ceremony at the Excalibur Casino. Hey, it was a 4 hour drive for her side of the family and friends, a 4 hour flight for my side, and the entire city was an open bar for the reception, so it worked out well for us. She was worried and stressed until I got her a yard of margarita, then she was okay. On the 31^st of October, she became Mrs. Troxell, and we’ve been solid since.

We have had our ups and our downs, we have had rough times and great times, but through all of it, we have been partners. She is my wife, my mate, my lover, and my best friend. She is the mother to my children, and the chocolate to my peanut butter. She is one of the best things that has ever happened to me, and she is the reason I am who I am today. Without her, I’d never have done half the cool stuff I’ve done in the past 12 years. I’d never tried for the job in Hollywood. I’d never applied for attractions at Disneyland, and I’d never tried to get a job at Fry’s Electronics in Fishers.

Okay, that one was a bust, but it paid the bills very well.

Shannon, thank you for a wonderful twelve years, and here’s to twelve more, and beyond.

Thanks for sticking with me,
Tony