The Man of my Dreams

Now, I am going to start skipping around in my story, because I don't want to talk only about Cystic Fibrosis. As I said in my last post, I view CF as only a part of who I am, but there is so much more to me. That all goes into living with CF, and the other stuff is what gets me through the hard and scary times.

As I have pointed out in my about me section, I am engaged to my best friend, Eldon English. And what more perfect time to start talking about the man I'm going to marry than exactly 4 months before the wedding? At this point in my life, he is my favorite topic to discuss, but how do I put into words what Eldon means to me?

I met Eldon in 5th grade. We were in the same class, and he was my best friend's boyfriend. We went to different middle schools and high schools. Our high schools were actually rivals! We had not talked since 5th grade when I found him on Myspace. We began talking and just getting to know each other, and after awhile, we became really close friends. I came to consider him as one of my best friends. It was over a year later when we decided to to start dating.We had a long distance relationship for 3 years, and our relationship grew to be one of love, trust, and communication. After almost 4 years, we are getting ready to get married!

That sounds like a pretty typical love story, but there is so much more to Eldon's commitment to me. What does it mean to marry someone with a terminal illness? Eldon has chosen to marry me knowing what our future may have in store. As I have mentioned before, the median life span of people who have CF is around 40. While I try not to think about it, that is only 17 years away... not long at all. There is also the fear of a lung transplant hanging over our heads. It is not really a question of if I will ever need one but when which was brought to a reality last August (more on that later). Then comes the worry that we will not be able to have any children because of the toll that takes on the mother's body and whether we are comfortable having children knowing there is a chance they won't have their mother for as long as we would like. Most people would take all of this information in and turn to run away as fast as they could. But Eldon didn't.

Eldon has chosen to stay, and he is my inspiration to keep fighting. I want to be with him as long as I can, and the only way to do that is to do everything in my power to stay healthy. I cannot wait to get married, because I want to spend the rest of my life with Eldon knowing that he feels the same way. We take everything one day at a time, and he keeps me strong. Eldon Thomas English is the best man that I know, and I am so excited to have the chance to be his wife!