How It Happened

It was a sunny, summer day in Paradise (nine years ago today!). He was tall (still is) and dressed all in black (I like to think I’ve improved his wardrobe). He was smoking (yick). I had no idea that one week later I would be falling madly in love with him and that before the year was out we would be married.

He was immediately useful. I promptly locked myself out of my dorm room (in the men’s dorm?!) and he helped me find someone to let me back in. And he lent me his copy of Hitchhiker’s Guide, which I’d been meaning to read for ages. He organized games of Trivial Pursuit in the evenings (when in doubt, “Abraham Lincoln” is always a good guess).

One week after our initial meeting, we went on our first date (summer romances have short timelines). We caught the shuttle down the mountain into the big city of Ashford, WA (population: 267). We walked and talked (at the same time!), stopping in at the General Store for a snack. He bought me a popsicle (multi-colored, but NOT red, white, and blue!) which we shared as we walked back to the shuttle to catch a ride back up to Paradise. All I remember about the ride back up the mountain is that I was trying desperately to get up the nerve to hold his hand. I was smitten (still am).

That was how it happened.