The Blind Date

I had dinner last night with my wonderful friend for life, Kate. We're actually cousins and (happily) stuck with each other. As close as sisters. We bickered and loved each other all through growing up. Now that we are mom's, our friendship has become one of the best things in my life. It had been so long since we had some uninterrupted time together. We couldn't wait to eat some delicious food and chat the night away. Of course, you get two girls together away from the kids & husbands and all they talk about is the kids & husbands. And enjoy every minute of it. It's so good to be a girl! Talking about the men in our life had me reminiscing that Jason and I are coming up on our 14th anniversary. Wow. 14 years. I still remembering our first phone call. The first time I ever heard his voice. The first time I heard his deep voice and wondered what he looked like.

You see, Jason and I were a blind date. I was 18 and he had just turned 20. The summer after I graduated from high school I worked at a pizza place on the Army base where my dad was stationed in Fort Riley, Kansas. I just happen to work the evenings with this crazy guy named Attila. My friend Attila was a Hungarian in the US Army. We became good friends and he quickly started telling me about his buddy that needed to meet a nice girl. His good friend that happened to be in the Army also. My immediate response was nuh uh, no way, not gonna happen. My dad always had one rule; No dating Joes. He had always made it clear that I was to stay away from the young, single soldiers. I had done a good job of sticking to this rule. But the next thing I knew, I was getting a phone call from Attila's friend Jason. What a phone call! Did I mention that he called in the middle of the night? Yep. First time calling me and he calls in the middle of the night. I think we talked for a few hours. He told me a little of his story. Where he was from, how long he had been in Fort Riley, what kind of  music he liked...It was such a unique experience to learn all about someone before I had ever even met him.

 After two weeks of talking on the phone, we finally set a date. Our first date. A blind date. You need to keep in mind that this was 16 years ago. Long before the days of Facebook stalking and text messages. I didn't even have a cell phone. So...here we go...sight unseen. Jason and I were going to meet for the first time. So much anticipation. I could hardly think of anything else. I couldn't wait for that night and the time he was coming to pick me up. And I kept waiting...the man was late. Let me say that again...HE WAS LATE! Not a little late. Almost an hour late. Late, late, late. I couldn't believe it. No phone call. Nothing. I had no idea if he had forgotten or if he just decided to not show. I didn't even care at that point. All I knew was that I was never talking to him again. How dare he?! Oh friends, but then that door bell rang. There he was with a baseball cap and a smile. Not a big smile, but this soft little smile that said "I'm sorry, but I'm here now." I just couldn't help myself. I was sure he was the cutest boy I had ever met.

I don't remember what we talked about or where we went. I know it was a party. There were other people at the party, but I couldn't tell you who. He spent the night teasing me. I took every opportunity to harass him for being late. We laughed, we talked, he kept smiling at me and I was in love by the end of the night. I'm a handful, people. I'm bossy, opinionated and take myself a little too seriously. Jason was the first boy I had ever met that could see through all of that and make me laugh at myself. Jason was this quiet guy with a deep voice. He was such a contradiction. Soft spoken, gentle, careful to not judge others and just very kind. But at the same time he was constantly picking and teasing those around him. He had these big hands and strong arms. I barely reached his chin and he could be quite intimidating if he wanted to be. Did I mention his smile? Yeah. It still makes me melt.

That was almost exactly 16 years ago. Here we are three kids later. Three beautiful boys later. There have been tough times. There have been times that I didn't think we would make it. Lots of arguments and times of not enough money. Our first boy was born with Spina Bifida and these two young parents had no idea if we could handle that. Then as older and wiser parents we had two more boys only 14 months apart. Holy busy days, Batman! Who knew you could be so exhausted and mentally drained? We haven't always made the right choices or said the right things to each other. Mistakes. There have been mistakes made by both of us. Oh, but the good times! The sweet beautiful nights of wrestling with our boys. Watching our babies learn to walk and talk. Learning that our boy that was born with so many challenges could overcome them. The quiet nights at home together and the loud boisterous family gatherings. We have built a family together. Through all the good times and the bad times, we have learned how to love each other even more. He still wears a baseball cap. He still smiles when he see's me. And yes, he is still late most of the time. We're working on it.

Much Love,
B