How I Met Your Father

Fifteen years ago today, I finally connected with the man of my dreams. I just didn't know he was that man quite yet. We had had a couple of near meets. We actually were friends with a lot of the same people but somehow had never really talked. I didn't notice Dave till one night when he walked into a party without a hat on and I noticed he had gorgeous eyes and hair. He almost always wore a baseball hat. He didn't stay at that party very long but I decided I needed to meet him.

The next week I saw him across the room at another party. I walked and across and started to talk to him. I ran out of beer and told him to wait for me while I got another beer. When I returned from the keg, he was gone. This was not good for my self-esteem but I wasn't giving up yet.

Another week later, I got home from competing in a college track meet and went to the all day annual spring party at 8 pm. This was considered arriving very late. Most people were completely wasted. I met up with my roommates and got a beer. Then I saw Dave again across the yard. I told my roommate, Amy, that I wanted to meet him. She said that they were friends and she would introduce us again.

Amy went over to Dave and started chatting with him. She said she had a friend who wanted to meet him but was a little shy. He totally thought she was hitting on him and then she mentioned her boyfriend. That confused him more. Finally she points over to me. I didn't find this part out till months later. I would have been so embarrassed.

We started chatting and really connecting. Neither one of us had had more than a beer which was very unusual for those days. The party got broken up after only talking for about a half hour. I thought for sure that was going to be it but Amy's boyfriend, Chris, invited everyone back to his apartment. We chatted and flirted for a couple of hours. Amy and Chris excused themselves and went to his room. Dave and I continued to chat in the living room for a while. We started to feel weird hanging out in Chris's apartment so we left. We had an awkward conversation outside the apartment that went like this:

Me: So what are you going to do? (It is like 1 am)

Dave: I'll probably just go home and watch some tv.

Me: I think I'm going to watch some tv too. Do you want to go upstairs to watch tv with me?

Dave: Um, yeah.

We watched Emtpy Nest together and flirted some more. We fought over who had to pick the next show by forcing each other to take the remote. That is when I made my move and kissed him. The kiss lasted 3 hours. Really just kissing. By 4am I was pretty tired and called it a night. I gave Dave my number and hoped he'd call but there was only 2 weeks of school left so I wasn't sure if things were really going to go anywhere.

Despite his friends telling him not to call so soon, Dave called the next day. We hung out almost everyday for the next two weeks mostly at keg parties. I didn't know he was the man of my dreams yet but I did think that he was good for me. We both went home for the summer. I wasn't sure if we would still see each other. At first I thought the timing of meeting him at the end of the year was bad but I think it worked out. I got to really get to know him without all his friends around and constant partying. Dave was sweet. He took me on real dates, sent me cards and small gifts, and talked almost everyday. I fell in love with him that summer. I've been in love with him ever since.

I'm using this photo from one of our first real dates for the Just Shoot Me Challenge this week.

Join the year long challenge of getting yourself in the photo at Forever in Blue Jeans. You won't regret it. This is 15/52 for me.