My dear dear Aiden...

I haven't written alot here yet about Aiden.  Though seventeen years have now past since he drowned in a freak accident a month before we were to be married, at times it is still so painfully hard.  I miss him SO MUCH.  He is in my thoughts always.  And forever in my heart.  I even continue to wear the engagement ring with our wedding bands we would have exchanged for the wedding.

I miss the what our journey together would have been.  Sweet memories I have many of but I still miss him terribly.  We laughed a LOT.  Finished each others sentences.  We were absolutely crazy about each other and loved being together.😃💕🐎

Aiden was a year older than me.  My birthday is the 11th of April and his was the 16th of April.  We loved having those five days we were the same age, even celebrating this on the 13th for fun.  Also we had chosen the 1st of April for our wedding!😂

Aiden was my 5'11" true love and I his.  We met through our horses.  My horse Patches came running to me at the sound of my voice but Aiden's horse Sierra played hard to get with him.  So when Patches and Sierra became buddies she came to me too.  Sierra didn't play hard to get with me like she did with Aiden, and it wasn't long before he began hearing from other boarders how Sierra came galloping right to ME when Patches did.  Aiden soon realized he REALLY needed to meet me and coordinate our schedules to ride, which we did.  In the process we fell deeply in love.💕

We both had never found the right one before we met yet we were both also living very busy lives with our respective careers too.  Many assume Little People marry other Little People and this often is the case.  But you see I've never exactly been an average Little Person either.😂

Obviously we talked about what lay ahead for me physically where I now am.  I had concerns for burdening him, he quickly made clear was not how HE thought.  I will never forget his words.  He said, "I would rather be with you and take care of you when we come to that place than think of NOT getting to spend my life with you."💕💫

So we plunged forth!  (You see he learned that from me too.😂)

Anyway, Aiden was an only child.  While his parents were concerned he still hadn't found that special one, when he did date a number of women along the way and would take one home to meet his parents they were often VERY relieved when the relationship didn't work out.🤣

Eventually Patches and I came along though and the time came for ME to meet his parents.  A few days before we were to have dinner with his parents at their home I asked Aiden if he had told them yet I was a Little Person.  He hadn't.😱

Whenever I humorously would add a third syllable to his name he knew I was either seriously about to change his mind regarding a matter or about to contest one of his infamous words he used playing Scrabble with (trying to beat me😂).  Or perhaps 

the amount of rent I owed when landing on his Monopoly property (which HE won a lot🤣).

"Now Aiden-thon my dear one, giving your parents a heads-up I am a bit more unique than others may be far more appreciated than you think.  Trust me on this, they need time to digest who their son will be bringing home."

"But you told me how you learned not to tell people in advance when you interview for a job or something."

"Yes, that's true.  However THIS scenario my dear, is quite a different one than that.  THIS involves love.  And respect.  Your parents deserve to know in advance I am a bit height challenged."  

"Adelaide, I really don't know what their reaction will be."

"Ohhh, I know.  Believe me, I understand."

"Will you sit next to me when I call them?"

"Whatever you need.  Remember, you've got the courage within you to do this.  Most of all these are your loving parents regardless.  Keep holding onto that.  You CAN do this dear."

"You're right."

And he did.  Later his parents told us regarding this call they heard something different in his voice as he told them about me:  they could hear he had really fallen in love which made them especially look forward to meeting me.  His parents were also very grateful I had Aiden make that call too, allowing them to know about my uniqueness in advance because it conveyed such thoughtfulness to them.  WE were grateful too.😃

Often when I first meet people they are very concerned they may say the wrong thing to the point I feel they think I will break at any moment 

or they will, so I use humor to put people at ease.  

It so happened Aiden's parents smoked and I noticed the ash trays.  I said, "I heard smoking was shown to stunt one's growth."  

For a brief moment they looked at me in complete surprise, then burst into laughter.  They loved it!

In fact they laughed their heads off all evening hearing my dwarf humor, my theatre stories, and of course my funny horse stories.  They also learned from Aiden all about my challenging journey and were both incredibly touched and inspired by my courage. 

When they learned how we met they loved this.  After I asked Aiden's Mom for his favorite recipes she was thrilled.  None of the previous ladies Aiden took home ever did that you see.😂

So the time came to part.  Loving hugs abounded.

We hadn't gone a mile before Aiden's phone rang with his Dad telling him if he didn't marry me they would disown him. 

And believe me, that my dear ones, was sweet to us...oh so very sweet.💕🐎😃🐎💕