How it all started…
In 2003 Jeff laid eyes on the most beautiful girl he’d ever seen.
Yup. You guessed it. It was me.
Depending on who you ask, you’ll get different stories. Jeff would say I pounced on him like a lioness in heat—or something equally ridiculous—shoving him into a dark closet to make “my move” on him.
Gurl, please.
Lucky for you, this is my blog, so I’ll be telling it the correct way.
Jeff came to visit our high school art teacher as an excited college sophomore, eager to share his new artwork with his former instructor. Little did he know he would meet the love of his life that day.
Truth be told, I had a huge crush on Jeff since I was a wee sophomore. I saw him in the hallways, rocking a letter jacket and thought, “Man, that boy is cute!” After I saw him that day in the halls, I dubbed him “Cowboy” based on the self-portrait drawing I had seen of him in art class. My heart would go all aflutter each time I’d bump into him in the hallway. One day, as I was headed to art class and he was headed out, you know what he said to me? “Hi.” So casual. So suave.
Guys, I almost melted on the cold tiled floor.
Little did I know, a year later he would reappear in my life. A college boy. (I’m sure my parents were thrilled when we first started hanging out—good thing they love him now).
That day, in the art room, we had a nice and casual conversation about art. (I played it super-cool and proudly didn’t go all fan-girl on him). I noted his tremendous talent and he expressed an interest to see more of my work. Pretty sure my entire body was beading with sweat during the entire conversation…which was basically the entire class hour. He clearly couldn’t get enough of me. I can’t help it if I’m irresistible.
I kid you not when he left, I told my table-mates I had the biggest crush on him my sophomore year. My friends then dared me to tell him about my crush. Believing there was no way he’d be back, I readily agreed, thinking even if he did, they wouldn’t remember or hold me accountable.
He showed up less than two weeks later.
To be clear, our conversation took place in a storage closet, where my art portfolio was currently being stored. And per our previous conversation, he stated that he wanted to see my artwork. You remember this, yes? The closet was, I’ll concede rather dimly lit, but a lamp was on in the small room. We chatted about my artwork. Then we chatted about college. Our religious beliefs. And personal life, including dating history. And just like that, I blurted, “I used to have the biggest crush on you my sophomore year.”
To say I shocked him may be an understatement. But who cares about what he thought—I shocked even myself! It was the boldest, most forward thing I’d ever said to a guy.
Props to me!
Before we left the darkened storage closet, he asked for my e-mail. My e-mail, people! Ha. Scaredy cat!
He e-mailed me less than an hour after leaving my class. It was heartfelt and rather romantic, filled with his own professions of attraction. The details of which, will remain just between the two of us.
From that day forward, September of 2003, we talked, e-mailed, or saw each other every single day. (To my mother’s never-ending delight).
We remained together (with slight breaks) through college and got married at a ripe age of 21 and 23. Just babies! But when you’re in love, you’re in love, right?
And as they say, the rest is history.
And that history includes our silly, beautiful, bossy-pants pre-schooler and our newest baby girl addition who brings so much joy and light into our lives. And I can’t forget our little furball, Gracie, who completes our happy little family.
