That Deaf Jersey Girl…

Meeting my husband was one thing I thought would never happen. I was at the end of my NFL cheerleading season, a bad break up, and swore to myself I would be single for a while. Well, look what happened. A year and half long distance relationship, which led to a move to VA, a marriage, 3 moves, two homeownerships, two careers, 3 dogs later….no, let’s not talk about kids yet. Please…go away.

One night, a girlfriend and I thought it would be fun to attend a calendar release party in DC. Sure, let’s get all dolled up and enjoy the night to ourselves! Nope! Ran into this guy who introduced me to my now husband. Long, long story short, after a cab chase to get my number, this guy was mine. Until then, I was forever dubbed the jersey girl this, jersey girl that…

Ladies, if a guy wants to fix your broken 5 inch heel, you let him!

We decided to give that dating life a try. He was in VA and I in NJ. We had never done a long distance relationship. This was all news to us. He had never dated a deaf girl either. Alert alert! He was from New England. This guy had every phrase in the book with an accent. Ok dude, you need to speak English. That was tough. I really liked him as a person but his English was like, okay excuse me, let me jump off the cliff really quick. Have a drink. Your lips move better when you’re happy. Eventually with time, he learned how to use his darn English. We mostly texted and Skyped to stay in touch. Weekends consisted of watching his rugby tournaments in the DC area and going to the bar for a drink or 10. This was 2010.

A year and half later, it was time for that move. We ended up living outside of Old Town Alexandria. He had rescued a dog who we named Jameson in the beginning of our relationship, I had my Charley. I think these two had a lot more to adjust than Justin and I did!

6 months later, one night, we went to dinner at our favorite restaurant Rosa Mexicana in DC and somehow ended up in a hotel that we met. Can you guess what happened? He finally put a ring on it! (Cue Beyonce “Single Ladies”)

I’ll always be that Jersey Girl as long as he continues to pump my gas for me 🙂

Us in a nutshell

Thing is, somehow we just make it work. Communication, communication, and communication. Don’t forget laughter and trust is also key. If someone makes you feel unworthy because of your disability or who you are, stand up and walk away. When you find your person, keep your person. Laugh at the tiniest mistakes you both do. Travel and go see the world together. Do the things you two enjoy and talk about all the time. Do projects around the house. Find a new hiking spot. Those 5 years of marriage went by so fast. Blink and time is gone. Live a little and enjoy it all in the process. Take lots of pictures in the meantime too!