Young love

It was 6 years ago today that my hubby and I first began 'talking/dating'. I was 18 years old, and had just finished my first year of college. I had also recently finished a short relationship with a guy who had a bumper sticker on his car that read "I like people...they taste like chicken." I have since discovered that I have a strong aversion to bumper stickers.

Anyways, I remember that it was the Tuesday after the long Memorial Day weekend. I was walking into the building where I work (and still do) and he was walking out from working on somebody's computer (he was the desktop support person assigned to my department). We said hi to each other, and then he stopped me to ask me what I did over the weekend. I told him that I went camping with my family, and he said something about his weekend, and then we went about on our merry ways.

Then, a few minutes later, after I got back to my desk, I got an e-mail from him that said "Oh, and I forgot to tell you...I went and saw Star Wars for the second time this weekend." Was that supposed to impress me?! I had never seen any of the Star Wars films, so I immediately thought he was a dork. I mean, I already thought he was a dork anyways because he was the computer guy, but this sealed it! I also must admit, and my husband knows this, that I wasn't very attracted to him either at that point. He was the exact opposite of all the guys I am typically attracted to (you know, the Brad Pitt types with blonde hair and blue eyes). But, being the friendly person that I am, I wrote back to him and made small talk.

Our casual friendly e-mails turned into more meaningful discussions about our families, interests, and views about life. I found myself anticipating his e-mails on a daily basis. He would write me deep, important secrets about himself, and I would forward them to my two best friends for comment. After all, to an 18 year old girl, it matters more what her friends think of her admirer than what she thinks of him herself.

In spite of his dorkiness, and the fact that he was obviously much older than me, I actually started to like him. He had a passion for life that I was attracted to. We wrote back and forth like this for about a month before we finally decided to go on an actual date. I still cherish those e-mails, though, and actually printed up and saved some of them from later on. When I pull them out every once in a great while and read them, it reminds me of why I fell in love with him in the first place.