Half my life. This guy has officially been by my side for half of my life. Fifteen years ago today, I met my husband. Now that we have kids, it seems crazy. When we were the kids, it wasn’t crazy at all. I mean, seriously, as a parent, it’s crazy and slightly scary for me to think that my boy’s could meet their future spouse at such a young age.
There are so many great things about finding your partner in life at such a young age. You grow up and grow together in so many ways. You change, a lot, and you both accept and adapt. You were there, for the good, the bad, and all of the memories that come along with it. By the time you get married, your families are already friends and you already feel like part of their family.
I’ve told the story of how we met many times, but I’ve never put it in writing before. So, here goes . . .
We grew up in a small town, and went to a small school. But, we had never met or heard of each other until the night before we actually met. Nathan was two years older than me in school, we hung with a similar circle of friends, but he had a girlfriend, so he was not hanging around the same scene as me and my single friends. My sophomore year, the school had a winter formal, it was scheduled for a Saturday in December 2000, but we had terrible weather the week of the dance and the school decided to postpone it. The new date of the dance was February 10, 2001. In late January 2001, Nathan and his girlfriend called it quits after two years.
On February 9th, I was having a sleepover at one of my friend’s house, like I did most Friday nights, and at this sleepover was the first time I’d ever even heard Nathan’s name. On the other side of town, Nathan was staying at his best friend’s house, a mutual friend. His friend asked him who he was going to go to the dance with. Nathan said, “I don’t know, I need to find someone”. They started flipping through the yearbook and stopped when they got to the N’s in the sophomore section, where they saw me! Which was an awful photo by the way. Nathan’s friend told him that he knew me, and that I was going to be with the same group of friends that were all going to the dance together.
On February 10th, all of us girls were getting ready for the dance at my friend Meghan’s house. All of our friends and their dates were going to meet us there, then we were going to dinner, and then heading to the dance. It was a group of about twenty kids. Everyone started showing up. Then, Nathan walked through the door with our mutual friends. I greeted my friends and was thinking, “who is this guy?” about Nathan. Like I said, I’d only heard of him the night before, I had no idea what he looked like or who he hung out with. I’m sure they introduced us. Then, my friend (the girlfriend of Nathan’s best friend) suggested that I ride with the three of them to dinner, I declined, but Nathan’s best friend was not taking no for an answer. Afterall, they had picked me out of the yearbook the night before . . . they had a plan. Nathan drove the three of us to the restaurant. I can’t remember exactly where I sat, but I do remember asking Nathan if he was going to finish his chicken tenders and when he said no, I ate them. That girls, is how you do a first date . . . a first date that you don’t even know that you are on! 😉
After dinner, we headed to the dance. I had a blast with my friends and didn’t really pay any attention to Nathan until the end of the night when a conga line started and he squeezed his way behind me and grabbed my hips. After the dance, I rode with our friends and Nathan to the after party at our friend Matt’s house. It was there where I found out a boy that I was supposed to meet up with had started dating someone else, and in true fifteen year-old girl fashion, I started crying. Guess who was there to console me? Nathan, of course. He asked what was wrong, I told him, and then I laid my head in his lap, continued to cry while he rubbed my back. Then, Regulators by Warren G started playing, I popped up (that’s my jam) and something magical happened . . . I had found my match in life when Nathan and I recited the rap word for word. It completely turned my night around, and for me, sealed the deal about this guy. This was my future husband! From that moment forward we were inseparable. We haven’t spent longer than a week apart since.
Happy Meetiversary Sweets. There is no one I’d rather do life with and there is no doubt in my mind that we were brought together for a reason by God.
Regulators, mount up!!!
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