Because Valentine’s Day was this month (I know. I am late. Story of my life.) I thought I would answer my friend’s question from her blog.
Remember the Honey Grahams commercial? “So happy together!”
I know it’s a Turtles song. But remember the commercial? Do they even make that cereal anymore? I don’t remember it being good, but because it wasn’t boring, made out of super cardboard, and was not healthy, we didn’t get to eat it. That alone made it look AMAZING.
Digression!
Jason and I met in college. But not like “oh he was the hot dude across the hall” kind of meeting. It was less romantic at first and much more painful. And mean. I was really really mean to him.
I know that now. (He kind of deserved it though)
Jason was best friends with some people that were from his high school that lived in my hall. He actually went to a different college in a different town. He would come up every Monday night to watch football with his buddies and I would be watching Ally McBeal (read: the best show that was ever on TV. Bygones. )
We met through these mutual friends and eventually it turned into him having a crush on me. It’s true. He’d admit it. I can say now that he was really sweet and fairly mature in how he handled it. In my 18-year-old mind he looked like a stalker.
He left a flower for me once, taped to my dorm room door. Sweet right? I wanted to die. And hide. I was afraid he’d come back with a knife. How silly we are as teens. le sigh.
The big turn from friends to maybe-dating-in-his-mind-but-not-mine was the date auction. My freshman hall held one to raise money. I was put up for sale. Not wanting to be the only person who left the stage without a bid, I asked Jason (then, in my mind, the sweet kid from Cincinnati who was a safe friend) to come up and bid up the price. Just a couple of bucks. I would pay him back.
This is what he heard: “I love you with all my heart and would like you to come up and outbid everyone in the room and sweep me off my feet.” This is not what I said.
I suppose you know how that ended. Even though I was shooting daggers from my eyes at him, willing him to stop outbidding everyone, he seemed to think I was only staring intently into his eyes.
He won.
I was livid.
Our stories diverge here. He really only bought me for like $60 tops but he SWEARS it was over $100. Please. Tell me who has $100 as a college freshman? Whatever.
So since he bought me he had to take me on a date. Serves him right. He took me to Olive Garden (we still go regularly) and to a poor college kid that is HIGH CLASS. Seriously.
But he showed up to pick me up with his shoelaces untied. True. See picture above for evidence. (We were all of 18 or 19 in that pic) (Please excuse my weird haircut – I was growing it out at the time and had yet to really discover all that is a hair dryer and round brush.) In my mind I thought there was no way I could take him seriously if his shoelace was untied. Plus he was a stalker.
Needless to say it didn’t work out. I wanted to be free and date LOTS of dudes and he was all serious and mature. Whatever.
It seemed like we always got back in touch after I moved back to Ohio each fall at the start of each new year. Each time I remembered how sweet, smart and mature he was. And I would agree to a date, thinking “he’s a good guy and I should make this work.” And then I was like “nah I want to be FREE!” <scoff> I was kind of an idiot at that point. Plus it was really really mean. I mean, I was letting him take me out, fall all madly in love with me again each time (he was) and then going nah.
Fast forward to my senior year. We had stayed friends – really great friends actually. He was one of the best people I had ever met and was so patient and smart and so so funny. Then he showed up at my door senior year and he had muscles. <-- I won’t deny it. That was what pushed me over the edge of thinking he was kind of dweeby and cute to thinking he was sexy.
And then about three months later I was the stalker, telling him I was so in love and that he had to stay with me even after I graduated. (What a sappy ding dong. Me. Well him too, but much earlier. And longer really. He wins!)
And in February 2004 we were engaged. Image is from our engagement party. My hair is MUCH better here and he had his shoelaces tied. Believe me, he ALWAYS does now.
And this past fall we celebrated our 6th wedding anniversary, and we are approaching our 7th now. We joke and say that he wore me down.
Glad he did.
Even though I've heard some of this before, I loved loved loved reading it. Yay for good guys (finally) winning!
Posted by: Jennifer Taylor | February 25, 2011 at 06:03 PM
LOVE this story and thank you for writing it. I am sharing it with my good friends and you tell it WAY better than I do. We are SO FORTUNATE!!!
love
E
Posted by: EB | February 27, 2011 at 06:38 AM
As I remember the auction story, you told Jason very clearly that by going out with him, you were just fullfilling the auction requirements, and that it was NOT A DATE and HE was NOT YOUR DATE.
And that evening he introduced himself to everyone as "Hi. I'm Jason. I'm not her date."
As a registered Smart Ass myself, I smile in deep appreciation.
Posted by: Ice9 | March 02, 2011 at 08:31 AM
wow i completely forgot that part. He IS a smart ass.
Posted by: bree | March 04, 2011 at 11:17 AM