In April, it will be five years Mike and I have been together. Last November, we celebrated our third wedding anniversary.

I know what you mean about the restaurant thing. You see, in my family, the one whose order came out to the most money--everyone else ordered a $5.00 plate and that person ordered a $5.50 or a $6.00--was looked down on, treated as if they were elbowing everybody else out of the way and grabbing the biggest piece of pie. To keep from being disapproved of and thought selfish, I developed that habit of making sure my order didn't cost more than anyone else's. The first habit Mike had to break me of was always letting him order first, so I could keep my meal less expensive than his. He saw me doing that and then started making me order first, so I'd have to get what I wanted.

The irony has just now hit me, while typing that: The most expensive order was usually my grandfather's. And he was paying for it. So why shouldn't he have ordered what he wanted?

Gee, my family was messed up.