He saved my {life}

Yesterday was Mani's b-day and, being the procrastinating person that I am cursed to be, I didn't give him a proper shout out anywhere on the World Wide Web. He even IM'd me from work yesterday and said, "How come you haven't wished me happy birthday on Facebook?". lol Now, before you start judging, I wished him happy birthday that MORNING but apparently he wanted a facebook shoutout (my bad).

Anyway, Mani turned 26 yesterday, and to think he was only 17 years old when we met. AMAZING. We met at ALLC, if you don't know what this is, I'm not telling you. So don't ask :) I had seen him around before, but he was always with this kid (I knew his little sister) and this girl who I couldn't tell if she was Hawaiian or wanna-be-Hawaiian. Didn't matter though, I hated her, only because I was "j". I though she was Mani's keige (girl) and that was that. The first friend I made at ALLC, was this girl named Angel. She was from NYC and one tough cookie. Apparently she was getting in to trouble in New York and so her parents sent her to good ol' Orem Utah to set her straight (yeah wasn't really working). A few days later, I walked in to ALLC to see Angel talking to Mani. I was hesitant to go over there but she called me over. Angel introduced me to 'Manny' (Mani) and Mani was WEEEIIIIIIRD! I thought he hated me because he was just soooo weird! He was stand offish, he didn't laugh at my jokes, he didn't laugh period I don't think---AKWARD! Anyway, literally like 2 days after Angel introduced Mani and I, she disappeared off the face of the Earth. It's was kind of weird that an "Angel" introduced me to my forever love. Ok that was cheesy, scratch that. Anyway, we started hanging out, nothing serious (or so I thought). I remember one time I was getting ready to go out with Mani and Poli was giving me problems asking, "Who is this?" "What's his name?" "How old is he?" and so on. And my mom hushed him, saying "Poli, calm down. You don't have to worry about him, he's gay." I totally forgot that I had told my mom weeks before the SAME THING! Gosh I love that woman. And Poli left at that, knowing FULL AND WELL that that was not the case. A couple months passed by and Mani and I were pretty much inseperable. During that time Poli and his family moved to Las Vegas, something I"ll never forget or forgive them for (j/k). Mom was soooooooooo depressed about this that she finally couldn't take it anymore. Knowing I would NOT move to Las Vegas without kicking and screaming and hating her, she sent me away to Chicago (to my sisters, Teri and Berta) but didn't tell me until like 2 days before I was to leave. The night before I left, I hung out with Mani all night long. At this point, I still wasn't meaning for this to go anywhere but this boy new what he wanted, that's for sure. We said goodbye and it was really sad. I rode the train to Chicago (Sidenote: Please do not watch Save the Last Dance before going to Chicago. It will cause you to not want to get off the train, or out of your seat for that matter), it took 2 days for me to get there. This was plenty of time for sisters to prepare for my arrival, however, they were still late (something else I will never forgive a sibling for). I was happy to see my sisters, of course. Although they had abandoned me for Chicago.

I didn't call Mani after I got to Chicago. I think I purposely left his number behind. After maybe 3 or 4 (or 5) weeks of being in Chicago, I kind of just let it go. The whole Mani and me idea. But one day, Vagi (my cousin who lived in the upstairs apartment) ran down saying some guy was on the phone for me. I knew who it was right away and I was right. It was Mani and he sounded so relieved that he found me-lol Apparently another mutual friend of ours gave him my phone# (thanks girl!) We talked for HOURS, trust me, my mother-in-law STILL talks about the $700 phone bill we accrued (and paid) lol. We talked about EEEEVERYTHING, seriously.

Finally on Thanksgiving he told me he loved me. On Christmas he sent me a stocking filled with my fav candies as well as a teddy bear and a promise ring *tear*. I called my mom and she was happy but I don't think she really thought I'd marry him.

I left chicago I think 9 months later?? I moved in with my mom in Las Vegas. Mani would visit and finally when I turned 18 I asked my mom if I could move out. This was LITERALLY on my 18th birthday. She didn't hesitate to say "NO!". I told her, "Mom, you should thank me for asking you. I'm 18, I don't need your permission anymore." She immediately hugged me and laughed and kissed me and even cried. I'll never forget the day I left my mom, Mani had driven to Las Vegas to get me and I was so sad to leave her and I know she was sad to see me go. It had been me and her for SO LONG. She was my best friend. But she loved Mani already, she told me so. That made me feel a lot better. Anyway, the rest is pretty much history. We got married soon after moving to Utah and back to Vegas we went-haha

I say Mani saved my life because he did. I did not know who I really was until I met him. The path I was heading down when I met Mani was not a good path. At.All. I'm a better person because of this man and I'm proud to be his wife. I love you babe and happy birthday!

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