7.27.2009 standing in line for the ride of my life.

There is no rhyme or reason to why I am writing this story today.  Except that it is something I've been wanting to get down on a hard copy so as to never forget.  And it is by far the most beautiful experience I have ever encountered.

There were so many ups and downs.  So many emotions.  So many tears.  So much unsureness.  A real roller coaster ride.  A lot of things in my life have offered this same list, but somehow, I forced myself to believe that this event would be different.  At the end of this scary, real, and crazy ride, I was going to be blessed with an amazing gift.  Everything would turn out okay.

There are so many wonderful pieces and details to my story and I don't want to leave anything out.  It is all so important and dear to my heart.  So I'm going to break it up into chapters and the next few posts will all be in chronological order.

July 27th 2009, looking back  now, was like me standing in line for the biggest, scariest, and most thrilling roller coaster ride yet.  I didn't know what to expect with this ride, didn't know what I was getting myself into.   I didn't know how scary it would be.  I didn't even know if I met the height restrictions to get onto this roller coaster.  Most of all, I had no idea how proud and exhilarated I would feel when the ride was over.  At the time, I didn't even know I was at the amusement park.

  

7. 27. 2009.  

I went on an amazing date with an even more amazing man. He took me to city park for a picnic.  I was to bring the blanket, and he was going to take care of everything else.  I guess bachelors don't just have extra blankets stored away in a closet somewhere for picnic dates? We set up our little feast under a group of trees which formed a shape of a triangle.  This special place is now affectionately known as "Three Trees."  My hot date packed a brown paper bag (I guess guys don't have lovely picnic baskets lying around either) full of shrimp cocktail, fancy cheese and crackers, mango salsa and chips, 2 chocolate bars, and a bottle of red wine.  Oh and two red party cups.  It didn't matter at the time that I was only 20.  It would not have been very cool if I was drinking grape soda. We ate, and we talked.  We flirted. We smiled.  We kissed, and we held hands. And then, a torrential down pour swallowed our sweet little picnic up. 

I love the rain.  Not only do I love to watch thunderstorms out my window, but I love being in the middle of the storm.  There is something about getting drenched that is so liberating, and fun. Especially if it is one of those end of July hot day rains, with a hot guy.  So we sat on our blanket dripping wet and just enjoyed the night.  When one of us would get cold, we cuddled a little closer. But we never stopped talking.  Never stopped whispering our dreams.  Never stopped touching and kissing.  We never stopped falling in love.

There is a little winding road that cuts through the park.  And it was lit with curvy, old fashioned looking light posts.  The road, soaked and puddled with rain, reflected the light.  And with the sun setting pink in the background, and the rain still coming down strong, the road looked totally surreal. Something out of some painting somewhere.  Its funny too, until the rain came, I hadn't even noticed this sweet little road.  One of those things that God waits until the perfect moment to show you.  I love those things.  I wish we would have had a camera there with us to capture all of this.  I suppose it is good that I'm writing all of this down.  A word photo.

I pointed the road out, and said " I wonder where that road goes." The end curved away and we couldn't see the where it led. He turned my face towards him, kissed me hard, and said, "Wherever it goes, you'll be with me."

I know. Great metaphor. A bit cheesy.  But stinken glorious.  

That was the night that I knew for sure I was in love with Dan. I knew that I wanted to be with him.  And I knew he wanted to be with me.  We made our "dating" status official.  He was my boyfriend.

He was ten years older than me, but that didn't matter.  He was in a real big boy carreer, and I was a waitress at a bar, but that wasn't a concern.  I was a month out of a different, volatile, not-fulfilling, relationship, but I didn't care.  He had been engaged 5 years before, but it wasn't a second thought.  We knew we were supposed to walk down that road together...