Day 9: Our Story

Well, Valentine's Day is of course tomorrow. You should see all the lost men in the candy aisle in Walmart.. It's almost funny. (I had to go in and get a bag of candy for Z's. V-day party at school.) I watched this poor young guy walk up and down the same aisle at least 8 times, pick up the same baskets, and put them down again. He was still there when I left with my little gifts for my kids and my candy. Jeez ladies, do we put a lot of pressure on these men or what?!

Oh, and I did hear from D. today. Poor guy. He's really miserable. So, if you are reading this, and you know my husband, and even if you don't, please put up a little prayer for him. He has some big decisions he has to make. I pray that he has a clear path. On a side note, he did get some good medication for his ankle, and now is not in so much pain. Thank God for that.

And he says that I should be receiving a package on my doorstep tomorrow. I wonder what it is??? I can't wait. I also sent him a package, I wonder how long it takes to get to him....

Ok, in honor of Valentine's Day, and me feeling sentimental, I am going to talk about my husband's and my story. Keep in mind that I am not a novelist, nor a poet.

D. and I met sometime around September 1995. The postage and shipping store I was working for set up a little kiosk in the local mall. We were gearing up for the Christmas season. Across from my little stall was a specialty knife store. You know the kind... they sell medival swords, chess sets, and an odd assortment of whatnots. Well, D. was working at this store. He had a jovial co-worker named Deanne.

I will never forget Deanne. Deanne was the kind of person that could make you laugh just by looking at you. (Well at least that's what always happened to me.) She was happily married and I guess always trying to be the matchmaker.

I honestly never knew D. existed. He was just some guy that worked in the store. I went in there a couple of times, I knew him by name, but I never really thought one way or another about him, other than he was a nice guy. But Deanne had other ideas, and I'm guessing D. did too.

Deanne was always trying to get me to come over to their store. She would ask me where I live, and what I was studying in college; it was always a constant 20 questions with her. Unknown to me, I think she was relaying this information to D. Well, somehow I started talking to D. more, when I found out we had more in common. And I started to notice he had the most amazing molten copper colored eyes. He also was attending a bible college, played guitar, and had a funny, almost British, sense of humor. Which were all things I liked, and still do.

So, one day, as I was getting ready to go back to my kiosk and get ready for my next shift, he blurts out, "Do you like concerts?". I said I did. He wasn't really sure of himself, but he said he knew of a church that was having a concert in their basement and to get in you had to bring a can of food, for the hungry. And would I go with him? Not really thinking much of it, I told him I would go. He told me the time and date of the concert, and we went back to work.

Fast forward to the day of the concert. He used to drive this little Ford Escort. (He is soo going to kill me for saying all this, lol) This little car was a piece of crap! (oh, come on honey, you know it was). It was white, with blue vinyl seats and blue carpet on the floors. It smelled like old shoes. If you cranked the windows extra hard, they might come down. The headliner was also blue, and torn in several places. This car was not the total dream car for a guy trying to impress a girl, let me tell you. To this day, I will never forget that car, so I guess it made some sort of impression, right??

For this concert we had to go into the bigger city and go to a church I had never been to. I was excited to see the show, but I was worried too. So we walk into these double doors, drop our canned food into these bins and walk down the stairs into this blue youth room. There are people milling around, and I don't see anyone I know. Then all of sudden I see someone from my old church youth group, so I walk over to say hello. And lo and behold the whole clan is there! I hadn't seen these guys since I moved from my small town to go work for the shipping place. They are all around me asking me what I was up to, and who was this guy with me, and question after question. D. is just standing there. I introduce him to everyone, and D. was jealous of all the guys talking to me. (He said years later I was like some queen holding court).I didn't even think about that, I was just so happy to see everyone. Even after the concert, he was trying to usher me out of the basement quickly, before they all started talking to me again... lol

So, on the drive home we started talking about who we really were. At one point, I remember him saying to me, "You know, you really are a strange girl." I of course thought this was funny, because it was not the first time someone had said that to me. He took me home. And after that we talked on the phone for hours almost everyday. And after a while I figured out that I couldn't live without him.

We ended up getting married Oct 13 1997. Shortly after we got married, he left for basic training. So now ten years later, I've learned a lot about what love is, and what it should be. Things have been wonderful for us. Things have been rocky for us. In the ten years, the thing that I hold on to the most is that I know that no matter where he goes, and no matter what he does, he loves me. And I love him.

So, in honor of Valentine's Day tomorrow. I just wanted to share this little story. Maybe it will make him smile. It sure did for me.