Remember how I said that Friday's would be a little different this month? Last Friday we did 'Fresh Friday' where I highlighted some local farms and farmers markets. Today, we're doing (in case you couldn't figure it out on your own) 'Flashback Friday'. Since this is my Anniversary month (14 years married to my Mr.) I thought it might be fun to tell you our story.
Our story is full of the normal love story mush - but it's also not traditional. Although in today's day and age, who's to say what's traditional anymore? It's actually a lot more common now, than it even was 14 years ago.
Let me set the scene for you. It's near Valentines day, 2000. I'm 20 years old, just home from work, and I need to unwind from my day. What did I do you ask? I got on the Internet of course. Now. Let me say this. in the year 2000 A.O.L (America On Line) was THE business. Seriously if you didn't have A.O.L you weren't cool.
So, yes. I signed into A.O.L, like I'd done countless days before, and that's the moment that my life changed. Not instantly of course, but it's the moment that set the change into motion. I got an I.M (Instant Message) from someone who called themselves
DanTheMan875. It just said
"Hi".
I responded of course, even though I didn't know this person, and we struck up a conversation. I found out his name was Dan (big surprise, right) and that he lived in Manteca (which was about 20 minutes North of where I lived) and grew up in South Lake Tahoe. He was 24 years old, and he was single, and he liked my profile picture. I had yet to see a picture of him, but what I picked up from our first conversation, I liked him too.
We had talked a bit about things that we liked, things that we thought were annoying, and things that we were looking for in a relationship, but nothing ever gravitated towards OUR relationship. We were both, obviously, interested in the other, but we didn't really know one another the way one should before starting a relationship.
We continued to talk, online, for a few weeks, and then decided it would be nice to actually hear each other, so we 'upgraded' to actual telephone calls. Telephone calls, and online conversations were the highlight of my day. Now. I blogged a while back about my really bad blind date. So when Dan proposed that we actually meet, I was a bit apprehensive. I skirted around the idea for a few days, and finally I agreed. We'd set our first actual date for April 29th.
He planned the whole thing. He was going to meet me at my house (because if I decided it was a bad idea, I could just not answer the door, and he'd be none-the-wiser), we were going to go down the street to the park - you know to talk and get to know each other person-to-person. Then we were going to play some mini-golf, and have dinner. It doesn't sound like much, but I was beyond nervous. The last time I'd done something like this, it was a disaster, and I had really started to like this guy (even though I'd never seen him) so I was afraid that this too would end badly.
The day was finally here. I'd spent a ridiculous number of hours getting ready, because I had to look just right (even though we were just going to play mini golf) because I had to make sure that he liked what he saw. He'd told me before that he really liked talking to me, and I felt the same way about him, so I thought this might have the probability of turning into something real.
He knocked on my door, and before opening the door, I had this feeling come over me. For some reason, I knew without a shadow of a doubt, that the man standing on the other side of the door, was the man I was going to spend the rest of my life with. I opened the door, and there he was. Standing there with a small bouquet of roses that he handed me. I didn't take the time to put them in water right then, because like I said, I was nervous. I placed them on the counter, and we left.
Now I should add that my little brother was not really happy about the situation. He didn't think it was a good idea AT ALL that I was meeting (at my house none-the-less) a person that I'd met online. He had picked out a shotgun shell, that he had placed on the counter (he'd written Dan's name on it) in case I'd decided to bring Dan inside to introduce him to the family (needless to say I didn't). When he realized that I wasn't going to be bringing Dan inside (the shotgun shell stayed on the counter), my brother decided that the oil needed to be changed. Right then. In reality (and it's really quite touching when you think about it) he just wanted to get a good look at who I as going to be with. Just in case. I found out later, that once we left the house, by brother got really upset, because he'd wanted to follow us, but my mother wouldn't let him.
We went to the park, found a bench, and sat and talked. We talked, and talked, and talked. I'm surprised that we had so much to talk about, since that had been all that we'd done up to this point. I don't remember exactly what we talked about, but I remember that he kept telling me how beautiful he thought I was. He was most definitely working the charm.
We decided that we'd had enough of sitting and talking, so we took off to play some mini golf. I won, but I think it was because he let me. Which was totally fine, because it was sweet. We talked some more, laughed a lot, and talked even more. By this point, I really don't know how we had anything left to talk about, but we continued to talk, even over dinner. We really clicked, at least in my mind anyway. Aside from him continually telling me that I was beautiful, and sweet, and so nice, he hadn't really said much about what he thought about he and I, becoming 'us'.
When the night came to a close, he took me home, and we talked some more before I got out of the car. He asked if he could see me again, which I of course said yes, he then asked if he could kiss me goodnight (yes. He asked), again, of course I said yes. He planted a small and sweet kiss on my lips, and then we said goodnight. I think I skipped to the front door. I'd had such a good time with him, honestly, I didn't want the night to end.
I got into the house, and of course my mom, and my brother, were waiting - not so patiently - for me to give a full report of my evening. Someone had placed my roses into a vase, and I spilled the beans while smelling the sweet flowers. About 30 minutes or so had passed since he'd dropped me off, and before I went to change my clothes I decided that I'd hop onto the computer and check my email. He couldn't have been home very long, but there was a message from him. Telling me (again) how beautiful, and sweet, and so nice I was, and telling me that he'd had an amazing time with me, and how he couldn't wait to see me again. Queue the skipping heartbeat. He liked me too. YAY!!
From the moment that we first saw each other, I think that both of us knew - this was it. Our romance seemed to stutter for the first 2 weeks, but then, it was on fast-forward. June 3rd, he proposed. I said yes, and we set a date for the following March. Remember how I said this was my anniversary month? Obviously, March didn't stick. We ended up deciding in late August, that we wanted to be married as soon as possible (and NO I wasn't pregnant - our first child wasn't born until June of 2002), found an available venue in Lake Tahoe, and set the NEW date for September 30, 2000.
It was the best day of my life (up until that point). We were both so happy. He was the missing piece to my puzzle. I was the Yin to his Yang. We were a complete set.
To my husband - I love you more today, than I thought was possible. You've blessed me in ways that you'll never know. You've given me 2 beautiful daughters, and 14 years of happiness. I hope and pray that I've done the same for you. I know we've been through our ups and downs, and we've tackled some pretty BIG obstacles, but, I can't think of a single person in the entire world I would have rather done those things with. I love you bigger than the sky, more than the stars. For teremity.
Until Next Time ..
