Nine years / 17 years

June 9.

I love this day.

I love this man.

I was 16 when we officially became a couple on June 9, 2000 and 24 when we got married on June 9, 2008 .. in a drive-thru wedding chapel in Las Vegas …

We were married alone, under the early-afternoon sun in a city that was clear across the continent from our families.

Only a handful of people knew what we were doing, and we were giddy with secrecy and independence. We met the pastor right before the ceremony and our witness was a stranger named Missy who worked the drive-thru window at the chapel.

I was 24 years old, with shiny rings on my fingers and an even shinier future ahead of me.

We developed our wedding film at a nearby Walgreens. We ate cheeseburgers and fries at In-N-Out Burger for our reception. I traded my poufy gown for a white sundress and we rode the roller coaster at the New York New York Hotel & Casino.

We took our rented Corvette for a long drive through the desert, got lost on the way to Red Rock Canyon, and didn’t care. It was a perfect day …

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