Alright. I know this is going to be cheesy, but it's a Hallmark holiday, so let's celebrate! (I know, I'm hilarious.) I've had other friends do this, and I've found their stories pretty interesting, so here goes.
Our life together, the beginning:
When I was sixteen, I spent a lot of time at my friend Amanda's house in Ashville. I would be there before track meets, after school dances, on weekends, on weekdays after school, after track practices.... just about any time that I wasn't in school or asleep. Amanda's house became my second home, and about 5 of my other friends could probably say the same for themselves. One night, Amanda invited a few people over to watch a movie, some of whom I didn't know. I'm sure you can guess who one of those little curly-headed punk boys was, right? After watching some terribly cheesy horror movie, we all spent the rest of the night running around the house, shooting fake arrows from a plastic bow at each other, and playing with the rest of plastic weapons I kept in my car trunk. Yeah, I'm weird. (Branden often says he knew he was in love with me when one day he saw me marching out of Amanda's house with a 7 foot spear, ready to wreak havoc on IGA. Gosh, I'm awesome.)
Anyway, I gave Branden a ride home that night. Anyone who knows Long Street in Ashville can picture the Citgo gas station beside IGA. I parked my car there, and as we were walking out of the house, Branden ran and jumped on a gas truck in the parking lot! He climbed the ladder to the top of the truck and just... sat down. Needless to say, when the owner came out of the gas station he began yelling furiously at Branden to get off of his truck, so Branden jumped down and got in the car, and we sped off. It was a really fun night, and was soon followed by more plastic weapon and trespassing adventures. On our first "date", we watched the Boondock Saints at Branden's house. He even bought me a toy ninja weapon kit! How romantic, right?
Branden and I had met before this night, though. He happened to be in a study hall I was in my sophomore year, and I recognized him as "the kid who dressed really well." He had even been to one of my brother's band's concerts, as I took some of my friends who took their friends. Apparently he recognized me from another concert we had both been at, a local Grove City band's show. I was "the girl with the camera."
Since then, Branden and I had a long on-again, off-again relationship. We fought, we made up. We fell in love in antique stores and tea salons and parks and book stores and concerts. We grew up together, learning about how hard and beautiful life can be, and now we finally have a chance to share one. We're not 16 anymore, but there are still adventures we've yet to experience and definitely some toys in our future. I hope we can still enjoy all of those things that we've learned to love together, and one day soon, share them with our child. The new family I share with the love of my life is the best gift I could have ever asked for.
