Life Is Good
Lonely
I was newly 19, had just moved to Maine to join my family who had upped and transplanted themselves there from New Mexico, and it was the smack-dab middle of winter.
I loved my family, but didn't have anyone my age to converse with; I almost paid a waiter at a restaurant to be my friend. Seriously. I was desperate for some peers! I had no car, and until I started subbing at the school my dad taught at, no job. The mail came one day...that was a turning point. My grandmother in NM had heard of a church not too far from us that was a start-up, and I was greatly intrigued. We had struck out with churches to date, so we were willing to try anything.
Lost.
We started out for the church one Sunday morning in March, but we had to cross country roads to get there...when will this town pop up? Where are we? Ahhhh! "Let's take this opportunity to go for a Sunday drive", I thought. I was nervous and it appeared that we weren't anywhere near town...let's just forget it.
Late.
The town finally appeared...as did the church, but we were late. I despise being late. Sigh. Especially somewhere new...especially in a crowd, because doesn't everyone turn their heads in curiosity when you walk in? Of course they do! But up the stairs we trudged; we might as well sneak in the back.
Laughable.
Slipping into the back row; my mom was first in line. We sat down, but she urged me to switch places so she could sit next to dad; little did I know that she had an ulterior motive, because there was a definite cutie sitting next to her. Haha! I thought. I know what she's thinking...and you know what? This guy is intriguing. He looks to be my age...maybe I can make a friend! Internal smiles, and regular side-eye glances to my left. Hmmm. But what? You're leaving early? All I had was a nod of the head from him and he was out the door before the service was over. However, we met with the pastor after church, and it turns out his gears started turning the moment we sat down.
Life.
Turns out I officially met Mr. Intriguing only a few days later; the pastor took us out on a date. I'm not kidding! He picked me up, picked up my soon-to-be friend, and treated us to a meal at a restaurant. Over the next few weeks, I really started to like this guy, but he was recently out of a relationship and was way too busy with work and college and life in general to pursue anything further than a friendship. Let me remind you, though...this was March.
Love.
He couldn't hold out for long, despite life's circumstances. Near the end of April, we started dating, and that was that. We were smitten, no denying it. Met (March). Dating (April). Engaged (June). Married (October). We're 12 years in with 3 handsome boys. And we are late, everywhere we go. {Sigh, again}. But our days are filled with laughter, we are never lonely, and losing our love for each other isn't in our marriage vocabulary. Life is good!
I was newly 19, had just moved to Maine to join my family who had upped and transplanted themselves there from New Mexico, and it was the smack-dab middle of winter.
I loved my family, but didn't have anyone my age to converse with; I almost paid a waiter at a restaurant to be my friend. Seriously. I was desperate for some peers! I had no car, and until I started subbing at the school my dad taught at, no job. The mail came one day...that was a turning point. My grandmother in NM had heard of a church not too far from us that was a start-up, and I was greatly intrigued. We had struck out with churches to date, so we were willing to try anything.
Lost.
We started out for the church one Sunday morning in March, but we had to cross country roads to get there...when will this town pop up? Where are we? Ahhhh! "Let's take this opportunity to go for a Sunday drive", I thought. I was nervous and it appeared that we weren't anywhere near town...let's just forget it.
Late.
The town finally appeared...as did the church, but we were late. I despise being late. Sigh. Especially somewhere new...especially in a crowd, because doesn't everyone turn their heads in curiosity when you walk in? Of course they do! But up the stairs we trudged; we might as well sneak in the back.
Laughable.
Slipping into the back row; my mom was first in line. We sat down, but she urged me to switch places so she could sit next to dad; little did I know that she had an ulterior motive, because there was a definite cutie sitting next to her. Haha! I thought. I know what she's thinking...and you know what? This guy is intriguing. He looks to be my age...maybe I can make a friend! Internal smiles, and regular side-eye glances to my left. Hmmm. But what? You're leaving early? All I had was a nod of the head from him and he was out the door before the service was over. However, we met with the pastor after church, and it turns out his gears started turning the moment we sat down.
Life.
Turns out I officially met Mr. Intriguing only a few days later; the pastor took us out on a date. I'm not kidding! He picked me up, picked up my soon-to-be friend, and treated us to a meal at a restaurant. Over the next few weeks, I really started to like this guy, but he was recently out of a relationship and was way too busy with work and college and life in general to pursue anything further than a friendship. Let me remind you, though...this was March.
Love.
He couldn't hold out for long, despite life's circumstances. Near the end of April, we started dating, and that was that. We were smitten, no denying it. Met (March). Dating (April). Engaged (June). Married (October). We're 12 years in with 3 handsome boys. And we are late, everywhere we go. {Sigh, again}. But our days are filled with laughter, we are never lonely, and losing our love for each other isn't in our marriage vocabulary. Life is good!
