Tuesday, June 29, 2010

the story of us


today is david and i's 8 yr anniversary.

david and i started dating when we were 15 and 16 yrs old. we met at a christian ska concert (five iron frenzy & supertones!) in westerville. our eyes locked across the sweaty mosh pit and we skanked the night away to the furious beat. at the end of the night i was sweaty and hot and very tired. i sat down in the hallway and took of my shoes (shiny black AIRWALKS!) his friend ran past and stole my shoes and took off running. how romantic! he later told me he would give them back if i would give him my number. i said that he WOULD give them back and that i'd be happy to give my number to his friend, motioning to david. burn/win! we dated for about a year but we were so young that it naturally didn't last. (i still have the letter that he broke up with me in!)

we then spent all of high school dating other people, though he didn't date anyone seriously. onward into college we went and randomly he (or i. neither can remember but i maintain that it was HIM) sent me an email, wanting to catch up after all these years. i was dating someone, but not very seriously and i gathered so was he. but we agreed to meet up at the blue danube for some coffee and catch up. while there we never stopped talking and laughing. well up until the point where his then-girlfriend decided to "randomly stop by" no doubt to check out how we were interacting. poor girl. i used to be angry that she did that but now i feel so bad for her with how it all ended up. what i remember so clearly was my revulsion at her presence. i immediately felt possessive of david's time even though we were both seeing other people and hadn't seen each other in about 4 yrs! suffice to say when we hugged goodnight (as we call it now "THE HUG HEARD 'ROUND THE WORLD") it was like umm yeah let's dump our friends and try this again.

Sidebar: this is the closest i've ever come to cheating on someone - something i still feel awful about because i have felt the pain of someone cheating on me. so dan, if you're out there magically reading this, im sorry/not sorry but i had an emotionally attached moment to someone just before we broke up!

so we get together in the spring of 2001 and it was like BAM WE ARE SO IN LOVE! no question in my mind where this was going. oh, but did i mention that he had already obligated himself to go to art school in SEATTLE? ouch. so we spent the spring and summer in love with that looming over our heads. a long distance relationship is hard (interesting note: i've never seriously dated anyone who lived near me. but across the country was new territory!) so the day approaches and he leaves, oh that was so hard. we wrote letters constantly, which i should have known meant MEGA-LOVE for david since he is rather quiet and inexpressive of feelings by and large. i was supposed to go out to see him the third week september but then those terrorists in new york had to go and give me PTSD about sept 11 and there was no way that i was able to get on a plane days after that. so he decided he didn't care and - with a chuckle - if we were parted "the terrorists had truly won." he stayed at my parents house - though in another wing of the place as to not be indecent. one night he was acting weird and twitchy and suggested we go for a walk. my mind went ??! because he'd never in his life "gone on a walk" with me. so i prepared myself rationally for what i perceived to be two equally possible options:

1. he was dumping me. the long distance thing is too hard and he cares for me but it is just too much of a hassle and he'd like to end it now before this drags on and i start anticipating something that he can't give me.

2. he's going to propose. the long distance thing sucks which is proof of how much he loves me. letters skirting around the idea of a more permanent arrangement are no longer enough, he wants something more.


i cannot stop laughing at the idea that i really and truly thought it was 50/50. so we walk and he won't hold my hand and has his hands jammed in his coat pockets. then when he does hold my hand it is on fire and drenched with sweat. again, these things could be interpreted either way! so im nervous and inside i'm like JUST DO IT. KILL ME OR KISS ME! and then he smiles, holds both my hands, and starts telling me how much he loves me. and it takes everything in my heart to withhold the shrieks of victory and elation to let him finish, get down on one knee, get out the ring, and actually ask.

when we got back to the house my mom saw that i had been crying and had the same 50/50 deduction in mind. but when i held up my hand she cried and screamed and hugged me. the next day there was a note on my bedroom door that said

September 23, 2001
and they lived happily ever after



(i still have it)


also, regarding the previously pictured hand tattoos. david has a lot of tattoos obviously, which cover all kinds of subject matter ranging from his mom to his love of popeye and scooters. yet nary a one was for his beloved wife. a few months ago i finally exploded on him about this, feeling left out and being unrepresented. after much whining and hurt feelings he finally shouts that he was planning on getting my name on his hands but wanted to be far enough alone in his career that he had job security and he also wanted it to be a surprise. well wudda ya know, he comes home with those babies on his hands yesterday and i cried!

7 comments:

Maria. said...

Jenny, how sorry I felt for you when you just laid on David's bed the day he left for Seattle. I would've done the exact same thing, sometimes I do when Duane has to go away. :)

Olive said...

i remember sleeping on your (rather uncomfortable) leather couch the night before he left. we went out and met his friends at the dube for one last meal together with tom, levi, and cam. i ran outside and cried. it was just too heavy to celebrate! and then najet wanted to take him to the airport! remember that?! i also remember we ordered papa johns and watched fear factor (where they ate bull testicles and we all wanted to vomit but also couldn't stop watching). and then after he left i just felt so punched-in-the-chest. and you were so kind when we went out to breakfast/brunch. i love you girl. so glad you're my sister in law

Olive said...

btw david and i live pretty near the place you guys lived at on crestview. we walked past there the other day and wondered what ol' tiger stripe was up to now.

meridith said...

i love your story. so, so sweet and special. i also love that you met at an FIF show and that i can pretty much guarantee i was at that show (because i went to as many as possible). one of my best friend's husband used to bring all those bands to westerville christian church and i sent her this story. it was because of those concerts she met her husband too! i love it! music brought nathan and i together too - love it. love it.

Olive said...

we went to the FIF reunion show on their farewell tour. they had a scrapbook for people to put memories in - we put one of our wedding photos and wrote out our meeting-story. they were like WHOAH!

Jessi said...

I seriously teared up at the note on the door.

I love stories like this! So sweet! Happy Anniversary!!

Anonymous said...

Aww super sweet!! I was just at a supertones reunion tour an hour ago-- great memories!