I knew I had a winner early on. I was a high school dropout and joined the Navy to get out of a depressed economy and no hope. Met my girl while I was in the Navy. When we were dating I told her I planned on going to college no matter what after the service and that we would likely be poor as fuck for many years.
Without hesitation she said, and I quote, "Michael, I'd live in a mud hut with you."
And she wasn't some naive teenager at the time. She was in nursing school and 23 years old. Little did she know we would almost literally live in a mud hut for three years.
During my undergrad we were so poor we lived in a homestead on 11 acres in Seneca, SC. Dirt floor garage. Leaky old house with no heat, no 220VAC, no air conditioning. She had to wash clothes in cold water and hang them on a line, 12 months of the year. In the mornings I'd get up first and warm up the bathroom by taking a hot bath in the clawfoot tub (no shower) and running a little electric space heater. She would then eat breakfast in the bathroom before we went off to work. I split wood to heat the house with a woodstove, but we didn't have a fire in the mornings.
She did not ever complain. Not a single word. Years later after she told me how much it sucked, I asked her why she didn't say anything. She said she didn't want to distract me from my studies, and it wouldn't have changed anything anyway except making me feel badly for her.
We've been to war, lost parents and loved ones, and experienced life together for 36 years side by side. There is no woman I have ever met that I respect more. And I consider myself privileged to have her.
