Where did we leave off? Ah, yes. In Chapter 1, I had just left the country for a 5 week whirlwind tour of Europe with Liz, Sheila, and Isaac. There are several stories there that deserve a good telling, like when Isaac and I blew up our brother’s car in Gothenburg, Nebraska and had to Greyhound it to Indiana, or when we got to Paris and had to find our way to the bus station to go to London, but had too much luggage, and the directions Sheila had given us were, “Take Metro to Center.” (Do I need to tell you about the Metro in Paris? Is there a stop called Center?) Or how Isaac went to Soho and didn’t come back till the next day, after we’d called the police and hospitals, only to tell us he couldn’t remember the day before, and he didn’t know where he was when he woke up? Or how about the nice Belgian Jesuit priest that found us in the square in Bruges and offered us a place to stay, dinner at a crepe place, and a tour of the town in his car? Then gave us each a Mozart CD to remember him? Or the bombing in Madrid, 6 blocks from my aunt’s apartment? But these stories will have to wait. Love is on the brain.
When I came back from the trip, one very important thing had happened, and to this day, I’m a little shocked that I still chose to go to Europe. My older brother, David, had gotten married to his girlfriend of 10 years. I guess I thought I might never have an opportunity to go to Europe on that kind of tour again. But jeez, I’ll for sure never be able to go to my brother’s wedding again. Anyway, they had an open house at my mom’s house a few days after I got back. I had been emailing Derek through the whole trip, and sending him postcards, I think about 10 in all. If that doesn’t say stalker…
I had sent Derek my mom’s phone number, and he called on the night of the open house. I was so excited that I sat in the hall off the dining room talking to him for I don’t know how long. He asked if I had plans for the 24th of July, which is big in Utah. It’s like statehood day, but it’s really a celebration of when the Mormon Pioneers entered the Salt Lake Valley. There are always fireworks, big parades, party stuff. So we agreed to “do something” for the 24th. We didn’t really discuss what, so I was a little surprised when he took me home for dinner with his family. It was, after all, our first real date.
When he picked me up, he had just gotten a “summer haircut.” A buzz. I thought it was pretty cute that he still had his mom cut his hair. And I noticed that his eyes were not blue, but grey-green. Even better, I thought. With that hair, though, he looked about 16.
This is where things get a little blurry. We spent a lot of time together for the next few weeks. We went on a backpacking trip to Mount Timpanogos with some of Derek’s high-school friends (Hi Carrie and Crystal!), we went to another party with Dan and some people from church, and we even went on a spur-of-the-moment camping trip to Yellowstone with Sheila, wherein we had a very weird DTR in the tent one night, with Sheila asleep between us.
The day we went home, it was Derek’s birthday, so Sheila and I took him out for sushi for the first time. You know how someone can say a very simple thing, and suddenly you know you want to spend your life with him? Well, Derek tried the sushi without flinching, pondered for a few moments, and said, “Wow, this is like a religious experience.” He’s been a sushi addict ever since. And I’ve been a Derek addict.
But still, for me, there was so much uncertainty. We never even held hands. It drove me crazy, but with my total lack of experience in the world of romance, I couldn’t do anything about it. Then on September first, everything changed.
Wanna know what happens next? I have to go to bed right now, before my eyeballs start bleeding. But I’ll get to chapter 3 tomorrow. What was the big change? Was it:
A. The new nail polish that Derek so lovingly applied to my toes one night?
B. That he broke the news that he was really a 34 year old married man with a secret wish to move to Colorado City?
C. The return of his high-school girlfriend from her mission?
D. The fact that he plucked his uni-brow because someone had told him that girls like guys with two eyebrows.
Find the answers in Chapter 3.
April 21, 2007 at 10:56 am
AGH! The suspense is killing me!
I vote for D.
Also, I had to look up DTR in the Urban Dictionary. I am not down, as they say, with you kids’ lingo.
April 21, 2007 at 2:38 pm
The suspense is killing me too. Let’s see, I know it’s not C, because that happened in July, but then again maybe nothing actually happened with that until September. I don’t know all the details of that story.
As for D, you might remember that I am one who tweezed Derek’s eyebrow. Please don’t think I’m too vain, there is a story behind why he let me do it. I am by no means an eyebrown expert. I don’t have very nice eyebrows. I hope I didn’t make Derek think that girls would only like him if he had two eyebrows. Anyway I remember that when I did it, he told me that his friend Sarah thought it was really weird, so I ended up having a conversation with some of my friends and was surprised to find out how many guys actually tweeze their eyebrows or have a sister or a friend tweeze them.
I’m excited to hear the end of the story.
April 21, 2007 at 6:20 pm
We forced my brother to tweeze his unibrow. He later got married. Coincidence? I think not.
I love that you did a study abroad in Vienna. I went twice as a director’s kid back when there was a center in Baden Bei Wein.
April 23, 2007 at 9:08 am
This is fun to read your how-we-met story in such great detail. Usually when people tell you their how-we-met stories they’re generally very brief, two or three sentence overviews that just provide the context for meeting. I was also thinking that this would be a fun post for your kids to read later when they’re old enough. Family stories are always great to read, and it’s nice that your kids will have this as a resource later on.
April 23, 2007 at 9:36 am
I agree with Clara- Your kids will love to read the how-we-met stories. You write so creatively. I’m anxious for the next chapter. Hugs and kisses to the grandkids.
April 23, 2007 at 1:46 pm
I think we all know that B is true but that has absolutely nothing to do with this story so I’m wondering why you included it.