The First Decade

Today is a big day for my love and I.

October 7, 1999 was our first date. That means that we have now been together for ten years. A decade. One third of my life.

A lot of people don't celebrate the anniversary of their first date, but I think it is a beautiful moment to remember. The anniversary of your marriage is amazing - the dedication of your entire future to each other is obviously life changing. But the first date - it is a big moment too. That moment is so full of potential. At that point in the relationship there is so much still to learn, to explore, to give.

We had only known each other for a month, but had already spent quite a bit of time together "just as friends". I think there were several people on campus who were expecting the "we're dating" announcement to come at any moment. Although there were quite a few others who were taken completely by surprise - let me tell you why.

I was the worship leading, President of the outreach, Organizer of the Campus wide Recycling Drive, Honor Roll student who was going to graduate a year early.

I was introduced to Andy as, and I quote, "This is the guy I was telling you about. The one who got arrested last week." He had tattoos, and crazy facial hair, and had already dropped out of college once.

To redeem him a little, he was 19, and just trying to figure out what he wanted out of life - and as for getting arrested - he was at a party, having a couple of beers and some of the crowd got a little wild. With a cop for a dad, he knew what to expect. I think he is lucky his parents ever let him see the light of day again!

But back to our date. My love had already started showing me his artistic, poetic side by giving me a journal to take on my upcoming mission trip to India, and writing a beautiful dedication in it. He had discussed with me how getting arrested, and then seeing how so many of the kids who got arrested with him totally didn't care, and were back to partying and wasting their brain cells the next day - that had cleared his mind. His desire to get back on track with Jesus was growing by leaps and bounds.

God brought him to me at just the right moment. He was ready to seek something serious, and serious is what I had to offer.

Goofball is Andy's nature.

And serious is mine.

Somehow when you put us together, it melts into a perfect blend.
Our first date was just a simple picnic by the river. We had to rush back to his house first because he had forgotten an assignment that was due that day and had to pick it up. Then we had to stop at the grocery to pick up a few things he didn't have for the picnic. Organization wasn't his strong point.

But when the rush was over, we spent some time just sitting and talking and realizing that there was something here.

Something worth pursuing.
I left for India three days later, and our relationship was undefined during that time. But at the airport as we were leaving I realized I had forgotten my watch. Andy took his off and handed it to me. It beeped every hour, just a small "beep", but every hour that I was awake, I would sigh, and smile, and miss him.

By the end of the two weeks, my Mom was ready to hate Andy, and that annoying beep, but she knew that he was probably around to stay.

By the end of the two weeks, Andy had driven my friend Amanda crazy talking about me. The story goes that he was literally dancing around the fountain in the courtyard of Shorter College the day before I came home.

We never had "The Talk". When I got home, he was waiting at my parents house. He has been mine ever since. Months later I teased him that he had never officially asked me to be his girlfriend, so he better be prepared to make up for it when he asked me to marry him.

He just laughed and said... well, that is a story for another day.