The kind of story that most couples wish they could have is often considered nothing more than wishful thinking.

Then, there is Michael and Mona Romain of Morgan’s Point Resort, who have celebrated their wedding anniversary every weekend for the last three years.

The Sunday after Thanksgiving marked 157 weeks of marriage for the Romains, and it also marked their last.

A little less than 24 hours before a rocket-propelled grenade stole her husband’s life in Iraq, he’d sent a final text message to Mona.

“I hope you realize how much you mean to me. You’re my everything, mind, body and soul. You’re my best friend and soul mate. I thank God for you and our marriage ... You are my forever for eternity.”

Michael Romain was a communications specialist for General Dynamics at Fort Hood, where he worked closely with soldiers and former soldiers. He had only recently gone to Iraq for the third time and was due back home on Dec. 13.

Mona Romain would never had met the man she called her best friend and soul mate if it were not for her daughter, Grace, who was dating Michael’s best friend, Chief Warrant Officer 3 Andrew Llanos.

She soon learned that they had a lot in common, right down to the Houston suburb of Pasadena where they both attended school.

A short year later, Mona and Michael pledged their love to one another.

Family members said he was a man who would do anything for anyone.

He was sentimental and an old romantic who saved every letter and every card his wife had ever given him.

He was also a great friend to many.

Eric Pounders, Michael’s stepson, considered his stepfather a great friend, role model and mentor.

“He was the man that my mom had never had,” Pounders said. “He treated my mom the way a woman deserves to be treated. That meant a lot to me. He was just an amazing man.”

Llanos, a friend for nearly eight years, credited Michael with helping him through some of the toughest times in his life.

“He was like my brother,” Llanos said. “I lived in his house, I hung out with his kids, his mother. He was more like my brother than my friend. There is a hole there that can’t be filled.”

While much of his work kept him on Fort Hood, it was not unusual for him to travel for months at a time to Iraq, his wife said.

“I always told him that he was my hero,” she said.

Mona would ask her husband periodically if he was scared of never coming back from one of his trips to Iraq.

She said Michael would smile gently and reassure her that everything would be fine.

“I say a prayer and I am in God’s hands, so don’t even worry,” he would tell her.

The couple had planned to renew their vows at a church in Priamo, Italy, but a memorial service is being planned at the park near their home instead.

Mona is still waiting for Michael to come home, only this time it will be his ashes that will return.

“This doesn’t feel real,” she said. “I miss my best friend. He is everything to me. He is my everything.”