Memory Lane

A friend of mine is doing MEMORY LANE on her blog and I think it is such a great idea. It has been fun to learn about the experiences that have shaped her life.

Here goes...
Sometimes I sit back and marvel at where I am in my life. When I was a teenager, I didn't want to fall in love and get married. My parents divorced when I was 13. My limited knowledge of marriage was pretty negative. I had decided that family life wasn't for me. Looking back, I imagine this was a way of protecting myself. I had learned that the more you love someone, the more they can hurt you. I hadn't yet realized that the more you love someone, the more joy they can bring into your life. So, how did I end up married?

Brady is very persistent.

I've known him since high school. He used to show up at the summer dances and ask me to dance during one of the first slow songs. Then he would leave. Weird, I know.

He had a way of showing up when I wasn't expecting it. Once he came to school during lunch and was escorted outside by the principal. I wondered what he was doing there because he had already graduated. And because he was breaking the dress code by wearing a tank top. He later told me he was trying to show off his biceps. Apparently he had been lifting weights. I have to put this out there for the entire world to imagine...The tank top was hot pink!!!

That pink tank top was probably the coolest thing ever because we lived in a small community that was (and possibly still is) 10 years behind in the teen fashion world. Oh, there's one detail you need to have in order to get an accurate visual image. . . I almost can't say it. . . Brady had a mullet.

He first asked me out when I was 16. I knew him from chemistry class and from the summer dances. The truth is, he annoyed me a little bit. (Sorry, Babe, but you did just a little bit.) I didn't think he could ever take anything seriously. After all, his greatest aspiration in life was to be a stand up comedian. He would sit behind me in chem class and make jokes under his breath. I fell for it every time. I would turn around, he would smile, and then the teacher would call my name and ask me to pay attention.

On our first date, I was amazed because Brady wasn't anything like the class clown from school. He was polite and soft spoken. We talked for a long time. I was really comfortable with him. We ended up going out whenever he was home from college. He would bring his guitar and sing to me. Maybe he didn't want me to tell you that.

We never ran out of things to talk about. I told him all about my parents' divorce and he talked a lot about being adopted. It was easy to like him because I wasn't expecting anything to happen in the future. He was getting ready to go on a mission and I figured that would be the end of it.

When he left on his mission, I wrote to him. But I made it clear that I would date other guys while he was gone. I guess I had mentally filed him away in the "just friends" category.

I surprised myself when he got home. I was excited to see him. I had really missed him. He was different. More mature. But he was still really fun to be with and easy to talk to. We knew so much about each other already and it was nice to have someone who understood me. In spite of these things, I still didn't want to get married. I even told my best friend that if I started to do something dumb, like fall in love with him, she had to stop me. (Sorry, Janis.)

Later in the summer, he took me to a family reunion. My life changed that day. I don't know about anyone else, but for me, the smallest things seem to make a huge difference in my life. This is one of them.

I was in his aunt's house helping with lunch when someone came in looking for Brady. That made me wonder where he was and so I went to the kitchen window. I could see him out on the lawn. It took me a minute to figure out what he was doing. He had all of the little cousins lined up. One by one he would pick them up and spin them around. After he put them down, they would run back and get in line again.

I watched him for a long time. Finally, I went outside. When he looked up and saw me, he smiled. At that moment, I realized that I wanted to watch him play on the lawn with my children. Of course, that meant I wanted to get married and have children.

I wanted to get married!

I had loved him all along but I didn't know what love was like. It had come so quietly and naturally. I hadn't recognized it. Brady is my match.

So, now you know.

xoMJ