A Love Story

I've been feeling very sentimental and nostalgic this month. I've been looking through old photo albums and reading old journals. I came across this:

The Story of How We Met

I don't remember the exact day, I wish I did. But I do remember the place. I was walking down the halls of Dear ol' AF High at the beginning of my junior year, when my best friend, Becca, introduced me to a boy from her Seminary class. She introduced him as the guy who would rather buy a CD player than take a girl on a date. I didn't think much of him at the time, but I did notice that he had the cutest baby face. A few weeks later I started seeing him after school at Cross Country practice (coincidence? I don't know). He stuck close to the boys team so I didn't talk to him much. That is until we were in Murray for a race. I remember the first thing I said to him, "Are you a freshman?" The question seemed innocent. I had never seen him before that year and he looked young. I immediately knew I had put my foot in my mouth. "No, I'm a senior," he answered looking hurt. I was so embarrassed by my mistake. Lucky for me he didn't take it too personally. We became friends after that. We hung out a lot, mostly with the cross country team.

One morning in December I was getting into my car (my pumpkin orange, 1977 Oldsmobile Cutlass Supreme) to go to school. I was surprised to see something on the seat. It was a giant candy cane and a copy of the book "The Bearnstein Bears and the Green Eyed Monster." When I opened the book I noticed that many of the letters were highlighted. I read the highlighted letters to decode the message. It read, "Nicole, it would be supercalifragilistic. . . if you would go to the Christmas Dance with me." Taped in the back of the book was a picture. My stomach did a flip when I recognized that baby face.

That date was the beginning of our high school "romance." Dan called me after school each day just to chat, he walked me to class after lunch each afternoon, he showed up on my door step on Christmas Eve with a teddy bear. We took turns asking each other out through the next few months.

Shortly after Valentines Day I decided it was time to break up. I told him I just wanted to be friends. Famous last words. We didn't do much together after that.

He graduated that spring, and if we hadn't have had many of the same friends we likely wouldn't have seen each other again. The next fall was the beginning of my senior year. I was surprised when Dan asked me to my Homecoming. I was excited to go with him, but hesitant about leading him on. I wasn't ready to start dating again.

Several months passed and Dan received his mission call to Paris, France. I was so happy for him. With the pressure of having a relationship gone I was ready to re-build our friendship. We spent a lot of time together before he left. We wrote often while he was in the MTC, but our writing became sparse once he got to France.

I started college that fall. I thought of him often and wrote him occasionally. Unfortunately one of my letters was lost in the mail, and our correspondence stopped. One day, near the end of his mission I finally got a letter from him. We started writing again, and I planned to meet him at the airport when he returned home. Our relationship picked up right where it left off. We started hanging out again the day after he got home.

I remember very vividly the day I knew we needed to be more than just friends. It was his Homecoming. I was sitting in the chapel listening to him speak. It was like a light bulb went off in my head, or maybe it was like being kicked by a horse. Whatever it was, I left that meeting with a very strong desire to date him. (I still have flashbacks of that moment everytime he wears a certain French suit.) That day I let him know in no uncertain terms that despite the fact that I lived an hour away I was very interested in a relationship.

We emailed almost everyday (I still have and love those emails). I came home from school almost every chance I got. Dan came to visit me at school several times. In May I graduated and moved home. I was only planning to be home for the summer. I was registered for classes at a University about an hour away. Dan knew that I was moving in three months unless he gave me a reason to stay.

Without the distance issue our relationship was put into fast forward mode. It didn't take us long to start talking marriage. (I secretly registered for classes at a school much closer to home just in case.) One evening we were enjoying a quiet candlelight dinner for two when Dan got down on one knee and asked me to be his wife. (He actually asked me to be his Valentine, but quickly recovered.) Seven short weeks later we were kneeling across the alter.

And that, my friends, was 10 years ago today.

{Sigh}