Today marks 31 years that I have been married to my husband. I've known Dan since I was a senior in high school and he was a sophomore in college. We met at a boy/girl fraternity pajama party. He'd seen a picture of me prior to that time though as my brother and Dan are frat brothers. I was visiting the campus for the weekend, both my brother and older sister attended the same college. My brother asked for volunteers to take me out while I was visiting and a whopping 3 guys raised their hands. Dan and I hit it off quite well and I forgot about the other 2 guys. I think it might have been the diaper he was wearing as his party pajamas that first attracted me. There's something about passing an orange under your chin to a guy in a diaper that really sets my heart a flutter! No that isn't right, the diaper just clinched it. What really got me interested was Dan's resemblance to one of my biggest heart throbs of the time...Sean Cassidy. Earlier in the day, prior to the party my sister and I had been cleaning up the kitchen at the TKE house, Dan ran through the kitchen in a burgundy track suit and that was it. I saw Sean Cassidy and I think maybe it was love at first sight. Later that night when I saw him in a diaper...well what's a girl to do when faced with 140 pounds of skin and bone all wrapped up in a diaper but fall head over heels! Of course I had to go back to high school and we both vowed to write to each other. Surprisingly, we did! I still have all his letters to me. God only knows where the embarrassing letters I wrote to him ended up. Hopefully in a fire somewhere. Although we continued to write to each other, he was at college and I was home and when another guy I
lusted after liked asked me out I said yes. After all I had been singing a little ditty about him for months prior to meeting Dan, I wasn't going to pass up the opportunity. What ditty were you singing you ask? It went something like this...All I want for Christmas is a date with J.L, a date with J.L. a date with J.L. etc...you get the idea. So now I am writing to Dan and talking to him on the phone and dating J.L. The funny thing about wanting something so bad and wishing so hard for it is...sometimes reality is not as good as the fantasy and such was the case with J.L. The guy might have had the most beautiful eyes I have ever seen on a guy but he was boring! A regular snooze fest but he was here in town and Dan wasn't so this situation went on for months. Prom was coming up and J.L. and I were making plans to go even though I knew I was going to dump him. Suddenly, Dan decided to come home for the weekend with my brother. Yes folks, that would be Prom weekend. Can we say uncomfortable? J.L. came to pick me up and there was Dan, hanging out with the family. I introduced them, they shook hands and off I went to Prom. Prom was boring, I didn't want to be there with J.L. I wanted to be home where Dan was. I think I managed to wait like 3 days after prom before I dumped J.L., looking back I feel bad about it but I was young and immature. What do you expect?? After that Dan came to Omaha to visit on a regular basis. We were now officially dating. I enrolled for college at the same school as my siblings and Dan and thought I had it made. Until I got to college and discovered a vast array of hot guys. And I was curious. And wanted to know more about the hot guys. Maybe even make out with a few of them. But I didn't want to lose Dan in the process. I made the suggestion that we needed to maybe date other people for a while. Dan was not thrilled with the idea but went along with. I remember one night in particular. Somehow, I managed to end up with 5 "dates" in one night. I'm using the term "date" loosely. they asked to stop by the dorm and I said sure, not realizing until it was too late that I had said sure 5 times. Hey, again young and immature. Try not to judge! I lived in an all girl dorm. Every guest had to be escorted in and out. Thanks to my roommate and friend, the whole dorm knew the situation I had gotten myself into. Each and every one of them was waiting in the lobby to see if I could pull this off without getting caught. And I almost did. Until I was escorting Dick (number 4) out and Dan was coming in. Can we say Awkward? I introduced Dick to Dan and finished showing Dick the door. I could tell Dan was not pleased but he didn't say a word. Not at that time anyway. No siree, he just waited for the right time and then he retaliated. He actually had the audacity to date another girl!!! The hell you say! That was not part of my plan. No! Time out! That is not happening! So, I quickly decided that dating other guys wasn't quite what I thought it would be and I broached the subject of becoming exclusive again. Dan was okay with that and life settled down to an even keel. It was good. Dan graduated, asked me to marry him, took a job in Wyoming and with all our worldly possessions in the back of a pickup and a homemade trailer off we went. That first year it was just us, the town he taught school in was only 100 people big. I didn't drive, didn't have a job and no family within a 15 hour drive. But I had Dan. I believe to this day that the year we spent in that little town is responsible for keeping us together all these years. We were all each other had. We had no choice but to depend on each other. This is not to say we haven't had our ups and downs because we have. We've weathered job changes, money problems, job lay offs, 3 sick kids, a closed head injury, and on and on. Sometimes he makes me so mad I want to scream! But I can't imagine life without him. He's my guy. And for all these years he has made me feel special and loved. Every anniversary he's gone out of his way to do something special to celebrate the day. And then today, I received this:
and an anti fatigue mat by Martha Stewart.
Do you think maybe he's trying to tell me something??? LOL!!
Seriously, in my mind the kitchen renovation is my gift. He has worked his butt off on it all summer long and I really couldn't ask for anything better than that. Thank you Dan. I love you more than you could possibly know.
And on that note, I need to go put my foot up.
Take care till next time!
Julie
