Janice and Bryan

Our Story:

Janice and I were always goal-oriented people. We are both determined and always remain focused on the future. It comes as no surprise that we were able to hang on to our young marriage despite being apart for so long.

Shortly after the events of September 11th, I found myself in Afghanistan. I was using the Army to get an education and never imagined I'd be overseas fighting the war on terror.

Janice had just been accepted into medical school and her workload was about to get high. Nobody gave our marriage a chance... except us.

You see, Janice and I established the foundation for our marriage when we were dating. Our time together was always planned and meaningful and we went out of our way to make our time special — without having sex.

I used our time together to give Janice my undivided attention. Cell phones were always off, our work was left at school or the office, and we treated each other like every date was our first. Pre-marital sex would have damaged the foundation of our relationship and we made sure that "filling time" was never an issue.

Call me old-fashioned, but I always open doors for my wife, make sure she is served before me, and celebrate our time together with little treasures like flowers or chocolate.

Setting the bar high makes all else pale by comparison. As my girlfriend, Janice set the standard by which I measured all other women, and as my wife she sets a new standard for beauty every day.

When I got back from overseas, the first person to greet me was my lady. She had all our friends and family make signs and there were over 20 people waiting for me when I got home.

A lot of people give marriage a bad rap today. It seems there are too many disposable relationships in the world. My hope is that everyone can experience what I have in my marriage and realize that waiting has rich rewards.