Port Aransas, Texas will always have a special place in my heart. When I was young, we would spend a lot of time there each Summer. When I was 13 years old, my dad was fishing in a charity fishing tournament that Colt was also participating in. Colt won the tournament that year. That afternoon, my Mom and I went to the fish weigh in to meet my Dad and some other mutual friends. My Dad introduced me to Colt. I was shy and said “nice to meet you,” and we went our separate ways. Colt is 6.5 years older than I am , so of course, at 13, I saw him as nothing other than a full fledged adult. My Dad had no idea he had just introduced me to my future husband.
The next few Summers we would see each other at the same fishing tournament. By this time, Colt and my Dad had many mutual friends, so they started to see each other more frequently. I was still so young, I just considered him a “friend of my Dad’s.”
Fast forward to the Summer of 2007. Facebook was the newest and most popular social media platform. I had just turned 18 and gotten out of a 4 year long relationship. I told my friends I was going to be single all year and enjoy my Senior year of high school. You know how they say you find love when you aren’t looking?
Here comes a Facebook message from Colt. “Hey, remember me?” I laugh now, because I was kind of freaked out. It had been a few years since I had seen him, but I definitely remembered him. We start chatting back and forth through messages, and eventually exchanged phone numbers. I was nervous for anyone to find out because he was so much older than me. I was 18 and legal, so it didn’t matter right? LOL:)
Long story short, we kept our relationship a secret for a while. Eventually he asked my Dad if he could take me on date. He was hesitant, but he agreed. He appreciated that Colt asked him ahead of time, instead of sneaking around behind his back.
Since I was still in high school in Beeville, TX, and he had already graduated college and living in Houston, TX, we had a long distance relationship. He would come visit on the weekends and stay at his parents, or mutual friend’s houses. We spent a lot of our time hunting and fishing at our family ranch. My entire family grew to love him as much as I did.
Beeville is a very small town, so word got out quick that I was dating an “older guy from out of town.” Some people had mean words, judgement, and opinions. Clearly, I did not let that bother me. Yes, when you are young, an over 6 year age difference is more noticeable and judged. I heard that one girl from school said “I was just looking for an older man with money to be my way out.” I literally laugh out loud at that.:) Now that we are older, the age difference seems to be more normal than ever!
Colt worked as a Merchant Marine and would be on barges for long periods of time. He got his degree in Maritime, which meant he ultimately would be on a ship for months at a time. After meeting me, he knew this would not be a good family life, and decided to change careers. My Dad is in the Oil & Gas industry, and we had some mutual friends that were hiring a Landman. The job was in Beeville, where we lived. So he moved and we were able to spend more time together now that we lived in the same town.
Senior year came to an end, and it was time for me to go to college. I moved to College Station, TX. We still had a 3.5 hour long distance relationship, but it was fine. I quickly realized College Station was too small of a town and I wanted to transfer to UTSA in San Antonio. That made the distance between us shorter.
I knew he was “the one.” We knew we wanted to get married. I had promised my parents I would not move in together or get married until after I graduate college. It was out of respect, that I follow their wishes. I still had 3 years left, and they felt as if they drug on and on. We had a ring picked out and he was just waiting for the perfect time.
Colt asked my Dad for my hand in marriage before my senior year of college. He proposed to me, and it was off with the wedding planning!! Since I had to wait until I graduated to get married, I had plenty of time to plan my dream wedding. I spent the majority of my senior year picking out all of the details for our wedding. It was stressful, but I knew I wanted a big wedding with lots of sparkle and glam. Lets just say, If I had to do it over again, I would skip the expensive wedding, and elope! LOL 🙂 I graduated in May of 2012, and we were married in December 2012. We had a beautiful wedding at the McNay Art Museum in San Antonio, TX. Colt was able to continue his same job, but relocate to San Antonio. We found a house and began our life together as Mr. & Mrs, and the rest is history!
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