Three posts in one day? Unheard of! So, I told you a spider story this morning, now its time for a love story (aaaaaawefluffybunniesandpurplesparklyunicorns). Be warned: its long. A little over 11 years ago, I had my life planned out to the T. Nowhere in those plans did I have room for a significant other. I found disdain in the fact that so many people seemed to be relentlessly searching for love, hanging their hopes of happiness on another individual that they hadnt even met yet. They just couldnt be valuable until they were a part of a couple. And then they were always upset with the person they were with. Or at least thats how it seemed. So after a few attempts at committed dating that left me wondering what the heck made people want to date to begin with, I just decided I didnt care for it, and proceeded to plan out how my life would go as a very happily single woman. And then, the summer I was preparing to leave for college, I met a guy that was so great, he made me rethink my plans. We met on stage at the SAAC, and by the time we started paying attention to one another, we were already in the throws of dress rehearsals...which made our first date interesting, since he was playing a little old Asian man. For the record.... He his not little, nor old, and certainly not Asian. But if I approached the wrong person at the movie theatre that day, Im still pretty happy about how it all turned out. ;-) The notion of changing my plans terrified me, so, on our second date, I tried to scare him off. I told him that I didnt believe in wasting anyones time, least of all my own, and that I thought of dating as a test to see how compatible you were in the long run. Not that to date would mean a permanent commitment, but if you already knew there was something that would keep the relationship from being successful, why waste the time? So I laid out my plans for him, my philosophies, thoughts on kids, marriage, how I felt about politics and religion. You know. All the crap you ARENT supposed to bring up in second-date level conversation. But to my surprise, he was unthwarted. If anything, I think this act of brutal honesty actually instigated more interest. And that made me more interested too. I think we had decided already that we would be married by date three, but I had no interest in saying I do until I had a college degree in hand. About two-and-a-half years in, I proposed to him. But hes a bit more traditional, and so launched a retaliatory proposal...in the middle of an opera performance...in which I was performing. Sneaky. I think there may have ended up being something like 4 total proposals...which is odd, since the answers were always yes. I sorta failed at the degree first plan. There were some people conflicts (long since resolved) that made us throw up our hands and decide that wedding planning was not for us, so a year early, we called our families on a Tuesday and said, hey, were getting married Friday. Show up if you can. It actually ended up pretty cute. We were married by Santa clause (Roger E. Armstrong), my voice teacher and the opera dept sang as a surprise, and my brother emptied a 5 gallon bag of birdseed on our heads. I also got to be a pirate right until I walked to the altar of the UCA chapel because I had hit myself in the face with a broomstick the day before and cut my eyeball, which required an eye patch. We never do things the normal way. No white dress, no fanciness. But, dang it, we were married. That was 8 yrs ago today. Ever since then, Ive been loving and learning beside this wonderful man of mine. He reels me in when I get too rambunctious for my own good. Hes patient with my quirks and even loves me more for them. He is kind and compassionate, and we compliment each-other so very well. There have been a lot of ups and downs. But with you, mountains and valleys are always worth the ride, and you give me reasons to fall in love with you all over again all the time. This has been a great 8 years...or 11, really. Happy anniversary, you amazing man. Keith A Carson
Posted on: Mon, 21 Jul 2014 15:52:05 +0000
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