And so it begins.
In 1992 (oh man. That was 20 years ago), I was the assistant manager at Suncoast. We needed to hire a new crew person, because we were short staffed and it fell to me to do the interviewing. I sorted through the applications and did some interviews and my boss asked me what I thought. I pointed to one and said "He's good, but he's too quiet. I don't think we should hire him." My boss told me to hire him because we needed someone, so I did. I was correct in my assumption that he was far too quiet for retail, but he got along with everyone and he worked hard, which was more than I can say for some of the people who I've worked with in my lifetime. I left the store to manage my own a few miles up the road, and we all remained friends. Then my old boss got promoted and I got his store (MY STORE), and we all started hanging out more and then one day this quiet, shy guy started talking to me about this show he loved - Babylon 5.
And he knew I'd like it because he knew me pretty well because, in case you haven't noticed, I'm fairly vocal about my opinions and feelings about things, and so I started watching it with him. Just hanging out in my living room or in the back room unpacking freight. My sort-of boyfriend who I was sort-of living with at the time went about his life while C (let's call him C, because that is his initial) and I watched these amazing characters. One night, being suave as I am, I was petting the kitten on his lap and I sort of petted his lap instead. Kinda. A little. And then I asked if I could kiss him. And he said no.
So I petted the kitten some more, and maybe his lap a little bit more, and then I asked him again. And he said yes.
I found out later that he was crazy-allergic to cats.
So we went to a science-fiction convention to see if they had any B5 stuff, and then we went to Arby's for lunch, and that was our first date. And then we had an official date where we went to see "The Professional", because we are all about the romance. There was more kissing and more sleeping next to each other in bed, because he wasn't ready and I was his first and it was strange and exciting and unnerving and then one night it wasn't and it wasn't perfect, but it was good. And then my sort-of boyfriend was definitely my ex-boyfriend and then I moved out and then he basically moved in only without moving in.
I met his family and they called him by a shortened version of his name, and I honestly had no idea who they were talking about because I'd never heard anyone call him that before. And I was telling them how pretty someone in one of their picture frames was and they told me she was their exchange student, and I was asking all these questions, and they laughed at me because it was just the stock photo that came in the frame. Then I went to Texas to be there when my high-school BFF had her first baby, and when I came home, he'd bought me a fish. And in the fishbowl with the fish was a treasure chest. And he told me to open the chest and see what it did, and when I did, there was a ring in it. I kept saying "What is that? What is that?" and he led me to the couch and got down on one knee and he took my right hand and I sobbed that that was the wrong one and he assured me he wasn't finished yet.
And then he proposed using the speech he'd been practicing the entire two weeks I was gone, up to and including while he was driving to the airport to pick me up.
So we got engaged and I have a copy of his speech in my hope chest, because he wanted me to always have my proposal, and then we got married, and because we are geeks, the inside of our wedding rings are engraved "And so it begins", which is a quote from Babylon 5 - said twice in the series: once at the start of war, and once at the start of peace. For better or worse.
So we stood in the church that had this gorgeous altar that his dad and uncle had built with my dad in his uniform and me in a dress that made me look sort of beautiful, and he smiled at me and there was a unity candle and the song that he picked to play was 32945739457937 minutes long and I kept asking him how long it was and I almost kissed him, but then I remembered we couldn't do that yet, so we smiled and laughed and people said it was really a lovely touching moment and they always want to know what we said, and I have to tell him that I was asking when the damn song would be over. And then there were vows and the Pastor said he could kiss the bride, but I stopped him and asked him if I could kiss him.
And that time he didn't say no.
Afterwards we spent the night in the hotel where we'd gone to the science fiction convention, and he walked down the street to get us Arby's. And eventually we faded to black.
And now it's fourteen years later and tonight we'll go to Arby's for dinner with our two kids that we have to go along with our house and ups and downs and ins and outs. He drives me absolutely mad some of the time, but he also is pretty wonderful. He gets it wrong and so do I, but we keep trying, even when it's hard. So, even though he'll never read this - Happy Anniversary, Mr. Smith. I love you.
And he knew I'd like it because he knew me pretty well because, in case you haven't noticed, I'm fairly vocal about my opinions and feelings about things, and so I started watching it with him. Just hanging out in my living room or in the back room unpacking freight. My sort-of boyfriend who I was sort-of living with at the time went about his life while C (let's call him C, because that is his initial) and I watched these amazing characters. One night, being suave as I am, I was petting the kitten on his lap and I sort of petted his lap instead. Kinda. A little. And then I asked if I could kiss him. And he said no.
So I petted the kitten some more, and maybe his lap a little bit more, and then I asked him again. And he said yes.
I found out later that he was crazy-allergic to cats.
So we went to a science-fiction convention to see if they had any B5 stuff, and then we went to Arby's for lunch, and that was our first date. And then we had an official date where we went to see "The Professional", because we are all about the romance. There was more kissing and more sleeping next to each other in bed, because he wasn't ready and I was his first and it was strange and exciting and unnerving and then one night it wasn't and it wasn't perfect, but it was good. And then my sort-of boyfriend was definitely my ex-boyfriend and then I moved out and then he basically moved in only without moving in.
I met his family and they called him by a shortened version of his name, and I honestly had no idea who they were talking about because I'd never heard anyone call him that before. And I was telling them how pretty someone in one of their picture frames was and they told me she was their exchange student, and I was asking all these questions, and they laughed at me because it was just the stock photo that came in the frame. Then I went to Texas to be there when my high-school BFF had her first baby, and when I came home, he'd bought me a fish. And in the fishbowl with the fish was a treasure chest. And he told me to open the chest and see what it did, and when I did, there was a ring in it. I kept saying "What is that? What is that?" and he led me to the couch and got down on one knee and he took my right hand and I sobbed that that was the wrong one and he assured me he wasn't finished yet.
And then he proposed using the speech he'd been practicing the entire two weeks I was gone, up to and including while he was driving to the airport to pick me up.
So we got engaged and I have a copy of his speech in my hope chest, because he wanted me to always have my proposal, and then we got married, and because we are geeks, the inside of our wedding rings are engraved "And so it begins", which is a quote from Babylon 5 - said twice in the series: once at the start of war, and once at the start of peace. For better or worse.
So we stood in the church that had this gorgeous altar that his dad and uncle had built with my dad in his uniform and me in a dress that made me look sort of beautiful, and he smiled at me and there was a unity candle and the song that he picked to play was 32945739457937 minutes long and I kept asking him how long it was and I almost kissed him, but then I remembered we couldn't do that yet, so we smiled and laughed and people said it was really a lovely touching moment and they always want to know what we said, and I have to tell him that I was asking when the damn song would be over. And then there were vows and the Pastor said he could kiss the bride, but I stopped him and asked him if I could kiss him.
And that time he didn't say no.
Afterwards we spent the night in the hotel where we'd gone to the science fiction convention, and he walked down the street to get us Arby's. And eventually we faded to black.
And now it's fourteen years later and tonight we'll go to Arby's for dinner with our two kids that we have to go along with our house and ups and downs and ins and outs. He drives me absolutely mad some of the time, but he also is pretty wonderful. He gets it wrong and so do I, but we keep trying, even when it's hard. So, even though he'll never read this - Happy Anniversary, Mr. Smith. I love you.