17 Years Ago...

Things were quieting down on campus for the Thanksgiving holiday. It turned out that lots of kids headed home early after classes let out Monday afternoon. I was car-less and therefore at the mercy of my good friends to make the 3 hour trek back to Cheney which wouldn't be until the next day.

Never being classified as a neat-freak, my dorm room was in its typical state of organized chaos, and for some strange reason I decided to tidy up a bit. Afterwards, I remember thinking how nice it was to sit on a smoothly made bed listening to CDs while looking up at my neat desk and beautiful collection of MardiGras ceramic masks hanging on the cider block walls. While perched on said bed, a soft knock came at the door. "Hmmm, who could that be?", I wondered. My door was half open so I peered around to see...oh my...it was that Eric guy again!

I have fuzzy memories of the actual conversation, though I do recall being nervous...and glad I cleaned up my room! He asked me out on a date...a real dinner and movies date...and we agreed on the following Monday...right after the break. I was a bit smitten. He was really cute! And what nerve, lurking around until someone let him in our dorm and then just walking up to my door...what else was there to do? Text? Email? Ha.

So here's the kicker. When I was around 12 or 13 I had a dream about my wedding. Vivid dream. I was walking down the aisle, but my groom had his back to me. The only distinction about him that remained ingrained in my memory was the color of his hair...dark, dark brown. Every boyfriend that I scrawled my name with his last name attached to it in my diary I knew wouldn't be the one...the blond, the redhead, the mousy brown, well, one other had dark hair, but I kinda knew it wasn't a forever thing there. But this Eric guy? Dark brown hair....almost black. Something about him made my knees a little wobbly...maybe it was the dream, maybe something else, but for the first time I found myself a little at a loss for words and, dare I say, a bit shy?

*****

Have a great Thanksgiving week y'all! We'll be gingerbreading on Thursday and the new Mac is hopefully coming home with us Friday. Yeeeee!