Fifteen Years Ago Today . . . A Life-Changer
Today I am grateful for the many journals I have filled with my thoughts, feelings, and memories over the years. They preserve the moments-big and small-that make me the person I am today. They help me recall details I would have lost otherwise.
One of those details is the day I met my husband Darcy. I knew it was either November 7 or 8, but my journal confirmed that it was indeed a fateful day 15 years ago TODAY. Our meeting significantly changed the course of my life and it has been so much for the better. I can't tell you how grateful I am to have Darcy in my life.
November 8, 1997 was a Saturday night and I planned to go with a friend to a singles dance in Okoboji, Iowa. I was 32 and my options for meeting men were limited. As a recovering alcoholic, bars weren't appealing. I wasn't a church-goer then. I took my job way too seriously at the time to consider involvement with anyone there.
I had had a few dates in the previous months, but nothing had panned out. I was frustrated on the one hand, but trying to put trust in God's larger plan on the other hand. I had reached a level of self-acceptance like never before. But I had some disdain for things like singles dances. I wrote in my journal "I am proud of myself-this is taking some courage-and getting over that 'only losers do this' mentality." It seemed you had to be pretty desperate to go to such an event, but I wasn't meeting anyone sitting at home on Saturday nights. My supportive friends urged me to go, helped me pick out a new outfit, then went home to their boyfriends or husbands. The friend who was going to go basically backed out, and my married friend Diane agreed to go. I appreciated her support and she played a key role that night.
When we arrived, I scanned the room and quickly caught my first view of the man who would become my husband. From across the room, I was attracted to his good looks, his physique, and what I called his "cute little intellectual glasses." I was hoping one of the random dances would bring us together, but it took a ladies' choice dance and some serious nudging from Diane to get me to ask this man for a dance. I did. We danced and conversed and I was interested. The night wore on and I was happy with the risks I had taken to come to the dance and mix and mingle. I was ready to head home and I hadn't connected again with the guy in the cute glasses. Oh well.
So Diane and I headed out to my car. As we backed out, Diane saw him come out a side door. Maybe he was looking for me. She decided she needed to go to the bathroom. (Not really, but she's no dummy. Thank God!) We went back in and I took the plunge. I walked over to Darcy and we talked some more and he asked if he could give me his number. We exchanged numbers-red marker on white pieces of paper-cherished forever in our wedding album. We began communicating shortly after that.
When we later talked about the night we met, when Diane saw Darcy step outside, he was indeed trying to spot me. Destiny. Thanks Diane! Thanks Darcy!
One of those details is the day I met my husband Darcy. I knew it was either November 7 or 8, but my journal confirmed that it was indeed a fateful day 15 years ago TODAY. Our meeting significantly changed the course of my life and it has been so much for the better. I can't tell you how grateful I am to have Darcy in my life.
November 8, 1997 was a Saturday night and I planned to go with a friend to a singles dance in Okoboji, Iowa. I was 32 and my options for meeting men were limited. As a recovering alcoholic, bars weren't appealing. I wasn't a church-goer then. I took my job way too seriously at the time to consider involvement with anyone there.
I had had a few dates in the previous months, but nothing had panned out. I was frustrated on the one hand, but trying to put trust in God's larger plan on the other hand. I had reached a level of self-acceptance like never before. But I had some disdain for things like singles dances. I wrote in my journal "I am proud of myself-this is taking some courage-and getting over that 'only losers do this' mentality." It seemed you had to be pretty desperate to go to such an event, but I wasn't meeting anyone sitting at home on Saturday nights. My supportive friends urged me to go, helped me pick out a new outfit, then went home to their boyfriends or husbands. The friend who was going to go basically backed out, and my married friend Diane agreed to go. I appreciated her support and she played a key role that night.
When we arrived, I scanned the room and quickly caught my first view of the man who would become my husband. From across the room, I was attracted to his good looks, his physique, and what I called his "cute little intellectual glasses." I was hoping one of the random dances would bring us together, but it took a ladies' choice dance and some serious nudging from Diane to get me to ask this man for a dance. I did. We danced and conversed and I was interested. The night wore on and I was happy with the risks I had taken to come to the dance and mix and mingle. I was ready to head home and I hadn't connected again with the guy in the cute glasses. Oh well.
So Diane and I headed out to my car. As we backed out, Diane saw him come out a side door. Maybe he was looking for me. She decided she needed to go to the bathroom. (Not really, but she's no dummy. Thank God!) We went back in and I took the plunge. I walked over to Darcy and we talked some more and he asked if he could give me his number. We exchanged numbers-red marker on white pieces of paper-cherished forever in our wedding album. We began communicating shortly after that.
When we later talked about the night we met, when Diane saw Darcy step outside, he was indeed trying to spot me. Destiny. Thanks Diane! Thanks Darcy!
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