***

Dad has been a persistent little bugger since day one, as has Mom been with her stubbornness. Mom and Dad were 21 years old when they met at their work as blackjack dealers for the local casino. As all great Canadian stories start with, 'here, hold my beer,' Dad had broken a few vertebrae in his back sledding down a mountain (dumbass), a few months prior, so he wasn't there when Mom first started the job. She always said that he had this infectious laugh, and that was what drew her to him.

When she first met him, she thought he was arrogant and loud; he thought she was snobbish. They never really worked the same shifts, so they didn't see much of each other at work. One time, when the casino got booked for a private bachelor party, Mom didn't want to watch the stripper and turned her back. Dad stood with her and they had a conversation, leading her to believe he wasn't so bad after all.

***

Dad came to like her, and didn't take no for an answer to his first of many attempts for a date. When the other employees would come into work, they'd always bring in coffee. Mom hates coffee, always has, but she loves tea. So, one day when Mom was working, he bought her tea.

It was his day off, and all his friends thought he was corny as hell, but Mom was really touched because no one had ever bought her a tea. "Just a tea, just for me," she told me. That was when she finally accepted his offer for a date.

They saw Indecent Proposal on their first date at the movies when it first came out.

***

Their friend group consisted of other employees at the casino. Their shifts would end around 6AM, so they'd all go out for breakfast. A couple weeks into the relationship, and many beers that morning, Dad was drunk.

Mom was still living at her mom's house and invited Dad over so she could make him breakfast. Dad had already been bringing his own food into her house, including a couple boxes of Macaroni and Cheese. Mom hates Macaroni and Cheese, so she just made him that to get rid of the boxes.

He was eating it and really enjoyed it. "I love you, and someday, we're going to get married," he declared.

"Talk to me when you're sober," she said with a sigh and went to bed.

***

Six months later, Dad slowly started moving his clothes into Mom's house. One day when she went to her dresser, she noticed he had claimed a drawer. "When did you move in?" she asked.

"I've slowly been moving in over the last couple weeks," he said.

"I asked you to spend the night, not move in."

"But we're getting married someday," he countered.

"No. Get out."

I think she was just joking, but who cares? They ended up married anyway.

***

They had been talking about marriage a little while earlier. "If you want me to marry you, you have to make it romantic, and make me cry. No cry, no yes," she said.

Dad had planned to propose on their first year anniversary, but he got excited and asked early. He had told Grandma about it-not to ask permission, just to let her know that he would ask her daughter for her hand in marriage.

He just came out and asked Mom. Nothing special, no kneeling, or flowers, or candles. He simply presented her with the ring and said, "Marry me."

"No."

"No?" he asked, dumbfounded.

"I'm not crying," she said. "I'll come back, and you better make me cry." She left him in her room, expecting something better.

When she returned, he was on one knee and had lit candles. "Red candles on my white dresser!" Mom, the neat freak, told me when she spoke the red wax splattered on her nice dresser.

"Will you marry me?" he asked, to which she said yes-though she wasn't crying, but she figured she wasn't getting any better. But, the next day, he had sent pink roses to work for her.

They were engaged for a year and a half, marrying December 31st, 1995 in Las Vegas with Mom's mom, Grandma's boyfriend at the time (now husband and my Grandpa), and Mom's cousin. This December 31st, 2015, will be their 20th anniversary. Congrats, you two!

***

Two and a half years later, they had me--May 23rd. Almost exactly a year later, the three of us moved out of Grandma's house to our first home. Fast forward two more years, they had Little Sister.

Today, they are "tolerably married," as Mom says.

***