The human players:
Myself: 40+ year old professional
accountant "of a certain size" (read that as not the typical rider
physique). I have lived primarily in Florida; Jacksonville for the last
24 years. I put myself through college, getting a degree in Finance and
working in that for 10 years before going back to school to get my Masters in
Accounting. When you have an accounting degree, what do you do? You
work as a public accountant (auditor) of course. I spent 5 years living
out of hotels, traveling around the country. The schedule killed the long-term
relationship I was in. I suddenly found myself living in my own little
house, with nothing to keep me going other than work, and a cat that was more
independent than she should be. I had to make a decision: become a
work-a-holic or find something else to do. Work-a-holic I am not. I
am willing to do what needs to be done, but I wanted an identity that wasn't
"auditor extraordinaire". What else could I do... I know,
I'll take riding lessons! I rode as a kid, had a pony in the backyard,
showed some and loved it. I was a pretty good pony jock back then,
thinking of myself as more functional as a rider than pretty, but I always
enjoyed it. But now? Well, truth be told, I was fat. I needed
something I could do as a "life sport" that would get me out of the
house and away from the computer at least a part of the weekend. So I
chose to go back to what I knew and chose riding. After that, I switched
from audit to internal audit at a shipping company. Within a year, I was
promoted to Financial Reporting Manager, and that's where I am now. I
write exciting financial statements for about 14 different companies,
consolidated and otherwise, US and abroad, and I act as the ledger police,
which makes me the most popular person in the building (not). I have a busy
season that coincides with the Florida horse show season, so I don't get to do
much of that. I used to play softball on Sundays, but have had some
medical setbacks that make that difficult for me right now.
The boy: The boy and I met 30 years
ago at a youth retreat.
I was the older woman, being in 9th grade. He was still in middle school, but he thought I was cute, and that was good. He lived in Pensacola, I lived in Gainesville. We kept in touch a little all through high school, would meet up occasionally at youth group events, but nothing big, at least not to me. In college, after I broke up with my high-school sweetheart, and before I met up with the long-term relationship that didn't make it through my audit career, he looked me up after a short stint in the Navy. He wanted to settle down, I wanted to enjoy college and being in a greek organization. He lived in Tampa, I lived in Jacksonville. He proposed, but would not wait until after I finished college, and would not move to Jacksonville, so we went our separate ways. It was brief, but pleasant. I didn't think about him again. Until this March. He looked me up on Facebook. We started talking. Within a week, he confessed that he went to every church event he could to try to catch up with me, that he never forgot about me, always thought of me as his, and was still in love with me. I, of course, told him he was nuts. He backed off, it took me 3 days to decide that what I have been doing the last 8 years since my last relationship broke off didn't work, and to give him a shot, since my heart was telling me he is a good man. So I did. To my mother's consternation, we are now engaged, have bought a new house and are renting out my old one, and he is on a seemingly never ending job search. We are trying to figure out how this whole partnership thing is supposed to work, and how we are going to fit his 3 kids in, along with my horse stuff, but under everything is a current of love. I do love this man. And he totally understands the horse thing. Before we even got into this, we had a conversation in which he told me that he knew that horses were part of me, that they always had been, even when I wasn't actively riding, and that he didn't expect, nor did he WANT that to change. After he met the "ladies" from the barn and got his first look at an event, he said it was obviously even more important that I continue to ride, and that he would love to come and jump judge with me or watch me show. He has a weekly standing appointment at the barn with me, where he stands and talks to the horses through their barn doors, plays on his phone and watches me work. Is there any wonder why I love him?
I was the older woman, being in 9th grade. He was still in middle school, but he thought I was cute, and that was good. He lived in Pensacola, I lived in Gainesville. We kept in touch a little all through high school, would meet up occasionally at youth group events, but nothing big, at least not to me. In college, after I broke up with my high-school sweetheart, and before I met up with the long-term relationship that didn't make it through my audit career, he looked me up after a short stint in the Navy. He wanted to settle down, I wanted to enjoy college and being in a greek organization. He lived in Tampa, I lived in Jacksonville. He proposed, but would not wait until after I finished college, and would not move to Jacksonville, so we went our separate ways. It was brief, but pleasant. I didn't think about him again. Until this March. He looked me up on Facebook. We started talking. Within a week, he confessed that he went to every church event he could to try to catch up with me, that he never forgot about me, always thought of me as his, and was still in love with me. I, of course, told him he was nuts. He backed off, it took me 3 days to decide that what I have been doing the last 8 years since my last relationship broke off didn't work, and to give him a shot, since my heart was telling me he is a good man. So I did. To my mother's consternation, we are now engaged, have bought a new house and are renting out my old one, and he is on a seemingly never ending job search. We are trying to figure out how this whole partnership thing is supposed to work, and how we are going to fit his 3 kids in, along with my horse stuff, but under everything is a current of love. I do love this man. And he totally understands the horse thing. Before we even got into this, we had a conversation in which he told me that he knew that horses were part of me, that they always had been, even when I wasn't actively riding, and that he didn't expect, nor did he WANT that to change. After he met the "ladies" from the barn and got his first look at an event, he said it was obviously even more important that I continue to ride, and that he would love to come and jump judge with me or watch me show. He has a weekly standing appointment at the barn with me, where he stands and talks to the horses through their barn doors, plays on his phone and watches me work. Is there any wonder why I love him?
So that is the story of me. My life right
now is made up entirely with moving into our new house, work, pony and boy.
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