The text on this first page, entitled "Through the years"...
This book is our celebration of 10 years since the night we met-March 26,1993. Jimmie Pettis got us together. I worked with him and Brenda and he was Mikes best friend. I asked Jimmie to have him call me first so that we'd at least have something to talk about when we met. We talked about an hour and I felt so comfortable with him, I told him to come on over. When I first saw him I thought "oh, my God! He's a baby!" He's 10 years younger than I am. That was the last time I ever thought of him that way. We sat up talking all night, surprised to see daylight when he left. I was born in Frankfurt, Germany and he went to high school there, having been born in Van Nuys, California. I'd recently visited Los Angeles, so we had things in common to talk about. Within 2 weeks, I was madly in love with him, but he broke my heart, saying he felt an obligation to give a former relationship another try. I had told him it could be so great with us. We fit like a glove. He stayed my friend, telling me I could always call if I needed to talk. Months later I shamelessly used that and we started seeing each other again. By September we were seeing each other but not exclusively. Then in January he told me he wanted me to be his woman. Yes!!! He almost waited too long-I'd started falling for someone else. I was infatuated with a man, but I was mad about Mike. He was my prize, my hero. He's my world. Now see, Mike? Didn't I tell you it would be so great? (howling hysterically)
The next set of pages are pics of when we first met, entiled "We've only just begun" and "I love you in any language is still I love you" and I have those three words spelled out in several different languages. (Thank you, sweet Snowy.)
The next set is entitled "Because you loved me". This was the song by Celine Dion that we played at our wedding, as we walked up and lit the Unity candle. The text on the journaling block says "July 26, 1997. Our wedding was beautiful. It was small, with only about 20-25 friends and family. Mike was so gorgeous and I felt like a queen. Jo Ann Higgins was my matron of honor; Angel was my brides maid. Davey was his dads best man and David walked me down the aisle. John Sasser was usher. Kay was MC." On the right side, I have my napkin, which says "Today I marry my Friend, the one I Laugh with, Live for, Dream with, Love." There's also my invitation and a shaker box holding the ribboned roses and babys breath that I wore in my hair.
The next set is the wedding party. The text boxes on the left page say "Our beautiful rings. They mean so much to me.", "Mr. and Mrs. Mike Maillard", and "The Wedding Party. Angel, Jo, my mom, me, Mike, his mom and dad, David and David." The page on the right says "Mike and his girls..Jo Ann, me, and Angel. And me and my guys..my David, Mike, his David, and John. And the Davids together. Yes, we have two. I was so proud to have all of us there together."
The next set of pages are entitled "Cutting the Cake". On the left page it says "We had many discussions about this. I hate it when a bride and groom smash cake in each others face. You've invested so much into your special day, you want it to stay that way." On the right page, it says "The reception was fun. Jo Ann had it catered as a surprise. Breathe, Linda, breathe!"
The next pic is entitled "Why I love this picture of you.... I remember how PROUD I was at your parents wedding; proud that you were MINE. It reminds me of the things I said to you in the car on the way there. You're just so darned gorgeous!! It also reminds me of just how LUCKY I really am; lucky enough that you think you're the lucky one. I see "I LOVE YOU" in this picture and I love being loved by you. Looking at it, I fall in love all over again. I love the person I have become because of your love. I love the SMILE, not only on your face, but also in your eyes. You're my BabyDoll; you're my HERO. I love you.
The next set shows the girls taking care of me. On the left it says "The girls took such good care of me. They got me ready. I was a nervous wreck. Then David kissed me and made me cry." On the right, it says "Dena caught the bouquet and David caught the garter. Of course, they both cheated." "One of our few times my family could get together and be nice." "My son wanted to dance with me, but the church said "no dancing", so Tom and Mike started acting up". "Leaving the Church. Bubbles, bubbles, bubbles. I loved them. And the car, they really laid it on."
The next set is of My Gastric Bypass Journey. On the left, "On Jan.25,2002, I underwent gastric bypass surgery. This is the best thing I've ever done for myself. I started out at 369 (I still can't believe I tell that number!) and as of New Years'2003 I'd lost 153 pounds. Since then, as of today, April 10, I've only lost 2 more. I haven't been eating my meat, I know I should, I just don't seem to like it. I'd do this again in a heartbeat." "This was taken just before going to the hospital. You can see the sheer fear in my face. I really thought I would die." "This was one month postop. Yes, it was a pukey day." "This was taken 3 months postop. Mike had a way of getting me to smile. Down 58 pounds." On the right, "This was taken 6 months postop. Still pale but I don't think it was a throw-up day. I'm down 93 pounds." "This was 8 months postop. A good day. Down 126 pounds." "Finally! 1 year postop and I'm in the Century Club! Down 153 pounds."
The next set shows the get together the OWLS support group had in Warren, Ohio. "OWLS-Obese Weight Loss Surgery- our Yahoo support group. We've all either had or hoping to have gastric bypass surgery. We got together in Warren, Ohio at the Best Western Motel in November of 2002. There was Anna Mattaliano and her daughter Delaina, Sue and Al Shew, Mary Ann Fields, Jeff Romine and his family, Dorie Shafer, Carl Davis and his friends Bonnie and Bill Carrier, and myself and Mike. Some of us got together and went to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland, and got back late because of blinding snow. Then we had a wonderful dinner together. We had a wonderful time getting to know each other."
And the next one is of the get together we had in April of 2003, in Columbus, Ohio. "There were only 3 of us after all. Me, Kathleen Hunter, and her cousin Diane. We had adjoining rooms which was neat, we just left the door open and went back and forth. We all went swimming and had the pool all to ourselves. It was great having no schedule, just having quality time to get to know each other." " This was a very nice motel. We were on the 3rd floor, rooms 303 and 305. We each had a fridge coffee maker, and a microwave. I think it was the nicest room I've ever stayed in. The pool was small, but since we had it to ourselves, that didn't matter. LOL. We played around in it, and did exercises. And we all took naps later, which really helped my burning eyes. We went to a very nice restaurant called Max and Ermas' both nights. I had the chicken fingers dinner both nights and had enough chicken left over for 2 meals the next days."
And the last set on this page is a segment of several pages about friends. It's entitled "New Friends Are Silver" and "But Old Are Gold". The one on the left says "Some friends are old but still new till you meet them. That sounds funny. These are friends we've met online and finally in person. We went to Parkersburg, WV to meet Cherie and her husband Scott and their daughter Jenny. We were in a diet club together." And "We went to Fredericksburg, Va to meet Gio and Ken. That was a lot of fun. We went to dinner with them and just had quality time to get to know each other." For personal reasons, Ken asked me not to post his pics online, he works for the government, I think, so I have blocked them online. The page on the right says "Getting to meet Destiny and Spirit was another reason I went to Columbus. I'd been wanting to meet them for a long time and I wasn't going to miss this chance. They were wonderful! They even bought me flowers and took me to dinner. We went to Max and Erma's. I had the chicken fingers dinner for the second night in a row. I knew it was safe and it was delicious! Spirit ordered this HUGE piece of chocolate cake. I couldn't taste it but he let me smell it. LOL!" And the Do Not Disturb sign says " I didn't want the maid to come in so I put the DO NOT DISTURB sign on the door. I forgot about it and Spirit teased me to no end about it. I was there without Mike. LOL."