How it all started

As promised, here is the story of how we met. Because this blog is public, I am going to be vague and general about some details/names. (And any pictures with 'her' are blacked out) But you'll get the point. This will be a long post. Sorry.... not really!

Way back in Sept '99, I met Heather. Long story short. We became friends. She married Joe in Oct '00. I went to their wedding with some friends. Benjamin is Joe's brother, so obviously he was there too (with 'her'). I don't remember much about Benjamin at the wedding. I don't recall if we even talked much, if at all.

Jump ahead to August '01. Joe and Heather had a g2g at her parents house, up north on a lake. They invited me and some friends to join them for the wk end. It was a smaller g2g: me, 3 friends, Joe-Heather, Tanya-Charles, Benjamin-'her'. We rented jet-skis...which could be another post by itself. They provided plenty of entertainment, despite getting crashed!

me and (my future sis-in-law) Tanya

There's alot about this wk end that can't be explained, nor do I/we understand. For example: like why I was flirting with a guy who had his 'sorta-mostly-on-the-rocks-soon-to-breakup' girlfriend with him. (Honestly, that was something I NEVER, EVER did. To me, if a guy had girlfriend he was off limits) Or why 'she' never punched me or got mad about me flirting with him. (I still feel bad for what I put her thru, regardless if they were just about to break up, or what she stood for or had done in the past..) And for the record, it was all 'harmless' flirting- no kissing, hugging, etc. (Actually, is flirting EVER harmless?)

Friday night I ended up sitting on the dock....with him. Just the 2 of us. He claims he tried telling me in a round-about way that she wasn't his girlfriend or they were just about to break up .. so I wouldn't get the wrong idea :) I don't recall that, or more likely, I wasn't paying attention to WHAT he said, just watching him... but I remember helplessly falling, head first for him. Big time. My whole weekend revolved around him. Trying to be where ever he was- talking to him - sitting near him. Later I learned his side of the story.. he was making just as much effort to be near me (as I did to be by him).

Sunday after lunch, 'she' walked to town, while me and him swam (he despises water, even more so water he can't touch the bottom) The things he did for 'love'! Later we learned that the rest of them were playing cards, mostly gawking out the window watching us. Anxiously hoping to see something - a kiss. Again, nothing happened.

Saying good bye was hard. Very hard. Although he flirted 'almost' as much as I did, we never mentioned 'us'. I can remember looking in his eyes when we said good bye, with 'her' standing right next to him-awkward!!. Wanting to at least hug him, wanting to hear for sure what he really felt, wanting to know if I'd ever see him again, not wanting the weekend to be over. (I was glad it was raining out, because it disguised a few stray tears I couldn't choke back- I told you I fell hard for this guy!) Later he told me, he could see those feeling in my eyes, and so badly wanted to do/say something, but 'she' was right there, and that would have been disaster. He felt that we'd be together some day soon, so he said he wasn't worried. On the other hand, I didn't know that at all. All I knew was what I wanted. To be with him again.

On the ride home, my friends confirmed (quite well), just exactly how he felt about me. So I knew he like me, I liked him... but we still had 'her' to deal with. I had no contact with him or his family for awhile after that. Until my dear friend, emailed me the news they had FINALLY broken up. This was maybe the week of Menomonie, or real close. It ended up that I didn't make it there. I was terrified I'd be replaced. Later I learned my future MIL and SILs were scheming trying to get me up there too!

In Oct '01 there was an exchange of numbers/letters/phone calls/a failed-attempt to get together. On Nov 2, 2001, I went up to his family's house. And the rest as they say is history. We've been by each others side since then. I moved up there in March '02, engaged April '02, and married June '02. Some will say, that's moving waay too fast. He said the moment I stepped out of my car, (when I 1st came to see him), he knew he 'I was the one'. It wasn't too long after that I knew for myself as well. If you are sure, and in love - why wait?

To this day I'm still learning new things about his side of the story (and from others) about this weekend in August. Maybe we are the only ones, but we talk about this wk end ALL.THE.TIME. After all it's where it all began. Me and Him. So now you now the story of how we became 'us'!

*If you made it all the way to here... thank you! I hope it was worth your time and blurry-eyes trying to read this long post. My original intent was just to write the basic facts: I met Heather, she married Joe, I met his brother, Benjamin up north at her parents, I/we fell in love, blah, blah, blah... but once I started writing... well I'm sure you got the point.