Summer Love

11 years! How in the world can we be coming up on our 11 year anniversary? That means we have been together for over a decade… WOW! We’ve shared so many adventures together, from Marine Corps stateside to deployments, from one little girl to 2. We have seen and done so much in those 11 years that thinking back to that summer that we met just blows my mind. God knew where we would be now, but I can honestly say I didn’t have a clue! Who knew that one humid day in early June of 2005, I would meet the guy I was destined to marry. Well, God did.

Back in the summer of 2005, I had just graduate from high school. I was working part time at a local preschool, teaching Pre-K and part time at the local ball park for concession stand and gate. Oh and, for some weird reason, I thought it would be a good idea to join a co-ed softball team. Actually I was bribed into playing by one of my best friends. She said it would be good exercise for us and fun too! It was anything but fun. We were the youngest players on the team and they took the games way too seriously. We had just finished our regular season of softball, plus playoffs. We didn’t want to take anything seriously. Needless to say, we made it through about 1/2 the season then quit. It wasn’t for us.

One night before practice (and before we quit), we headed to the local grocery store so Jes, my friend, could change into her practice clothes and see her boyfriend, Steve. As we were walking into the store, I, being the clumsy girl I am, ran into some buggies the workers had lined up for their customers. I made a scene and completely embarrassed myself. I didn’t know, at the time, that Jeff (my future husband) had witnessed the whole debacle.

Now everything that happened next, I didn’t find out until later on. Anyways, he began following us around to see if he could talk to us. He recognized my friend, Jes, because she came in often to visit her boyfriend, who Jeff knew too. When Jeff lost us, he headed to find Steve. He asked Steve if he knew me because I was beautiful and he had to know who I was (talk about sweet)! Steve said he knew me and told Jeff my name. Jeff thought he said Cathy so for about the first 2 weeks, he thought my name was Cathy. Boys!

Anyways, Steve came to watch Jes and I practice softball that night and told me the entire story. I was floored that he had called me beautiful and wanted to meet me. But, at that time, I had decided to take a hiatus from dating. I had just been burned by a guy who lead me on and I didn’t want that to happen again. Needless to say, Jes didn’t agree with that so she gave Jeff my number and didn’t tell me. Well, he tried to call me a few times and my mom always answered the phone. Turns out, Jes could only remember my home phone number, not my cell. And since I worked 2 jobs, I wasn’t ever home. (Please remember that this was 2005, and cell phones weren’t super popular. They weren’t attached to us like they are today. Actually, I had only had my cell phone for 2 years at that time.) He kept calling at other times, on other days to try and catch me at home. It was 2 weeks before he caught me at home. My mom answered the phone and said that the guy that’s been calling me for 2 weeks wants to know if I’m home. I laughed and took the phone from her. Jeff and I talked for 4 hours that night. There were no awkward pauses or weird small talk. We talked like we had known each other for years. I gave him my cell phone number but didn’t agree to actually date him.

A few days later, Steve and him came out to watch Jes and I practice softball. By this point, we were done. That was our last practice and we did not care about anything. We were sitting out in the outfield, singing songs and picking weeds, straight up acting like fools. After practice was over, we came up to sit with the guys and talk. Well, my dad had shown up to watch us practice too. Essentially, Jeff got to meet my dad and me at the same time. Talk about intimidating but he handled it very well. I was pleasantly surprised. Then, Jes and I decided we were starving so we headed to the local Sonic. When we pulled up, the guys parked next to us and we all sat on the tailgate of Jeff’s truck. A car drove by, rolled down the window, and had a conversation with Jeff. Now, this wouldn’t have been odd had it happened once, but it happened multiple times. I was starting to get nervous because I didn’t want to date someone who was popular. That was too much upkeep for me. I was simple and kept my circle of friends small. Well, I didn’t have to put up with it for long because Jes and Steve got into a fight, and because I rode with her, I had to leave with her.

He called me the next day and we began talking on a daily basis. My little brother played baseball so I went to all his games. Sometimes Jeff would come out and watch too. One night, after the game, Jeff asked if he could drive me home. My step-dad told Jeff we lived far out in the country but Jeff didn’t care. He wanted to drive me home so we could talk. We started driving, and Jeff kept asking me if we were close to my house. I kept telling him that it was out in the country, 10 miles to be exact. I guess that didn’t really register with him because he kept asking. When we finally arrived at my house, he couldn’t believe that my step-dad was right. We did live far out. Jeff asked me if I wanted to go out to dinner with him and I told him that I would love to.

We went out on a date to a local diner (that no longer exists). We talked about plans for the future, like what I was going to do and what he was going to do. It was at this time that he told me he was going to join the military, probably Marine Corps. I told him that I wanted to go to Stephen F. Austin State University (SFA). I ordered a crispy chicken salad and ate only the chicken. He thought that was horrible and refused to take me out again (lol, he still gripes about that to this day). We both started having feelings for one another but didn’t say anything.

About a week later, it was movie night with my friends. Well, they decided to invite their boyfriends, so I invited Jeff. We watched Napoleon Dynamite and Jeff hated it. However, he stayed with me the entire time and it never felt awkward. That’s how I knew he was different. After the movie, I walked him out to his truck and he asked me if he could kiss me. I was taken aback by his question. I mean, who asks before they kiss a person? So, instead of yes, I told him he could come and take one. That was our first kiss. After that, we were boyfriend and girlfriend.

The rest is history. We have been together 13 years and married almost 11. We’ve lived in numerous places together and apart. It hasn’t always been easy and there have been struggles but we’ve stood by each other through it all. We’ve also relied on our faith in God and each other to ensure that our marriage stays strong. We love each other’s strengths and weaknesses, which has allowed us to remember we are both human. We both make mistakes but we overcome them together.