13 years and 1000 movies later

Today is the anniversary of our first date.  For those who don't know, we met while working at the movies and surprisingly enough, our first date was a movie.  I remember everything about that first date.  I remember what he was wearing, I remember what I was wearing, I remember our good-bye in the car and I remember the conversation we had after I dropped him off and had tucked myself into bed. (Yup, that's right, I drove because even though I didn't know it at the time, he didn't have a license) I remember feeling that this was a different first date. 

A few weeks ago, I read something in a book that made me think about our first date thirteen years ago. 

In You Have to Kiss A Lot of Frogs by Laurie Graff, the main character of the book describes how the first movie rented by a couple can described the entire relationship. While it wasn't a rented movie (I unfortunately don't remember that movie), it was our first movie together.  I would have thought that the title of our first movie date would have been an indication that we were doomed to fail, but standing here today, I know that it was perfect title.
What was the movie you may ask?  Something witty, something romantic, maybe something sad?  No, it was the movie about World War II: Saving Private Ryan.  It is a well done film about several soldiers looking for one soldier right after the invasion of Normandy Beach.  It may be graphic, heart wrenching with moments of sadness, but it also has moments of happiness.  If I had read this book after our first day, I would have thought that a movie like this would show this was not a relationship that could last.   I mean the movie is about WWII, that just says disaster right?  I never really thought about the movie or the title, but after reading the Graff book, I finally did.  And the content of the movie is not what is important, it's the title.  I think the title is an actual depiction of what the last thirteen years have been like.  Adam has saved me.  I didn't know it then, but I was about to be thrown into a war that would last several years and I would need to be brought home to safety just like Private Ryan.  Adam helped me save myself while showing me the strength that lived inside me.  He is my home, he is my safe place. He showed me that it was okay to walk away from the war.  It is okay to be my own person and survive on my own.  In moments when I question my choice or decision to leave the war, he reminds me that I am strong and I am safe. 

Well, our first movie was not romantic, but it was memorable and true.  Adam saved me.  He may not have shiny armor, but he is my knight and I am glad that we are in this together.  I hope when we go out this weekend to celebrate our first date with a movie that that title tells the story of the next thirteen years.