The Craziest Thing I Did For Love

I've done a lot of stupid things for "love." I've quietly ignored his nerdy attempts at being a playa tendency to stray, I've put up with his indiscreet boinking inappropriate relationships with other girls - and this is TWO SEPARATE GUYS - because he claimed they were just friends (yes, I knew better), and I've wasted a year of my high school life thinking we still had a chance. All stupid things. Time NOT well-wasted.

I've even said no to love because I was scared. To this day I kinda kick myself in the shin for that, for not exploring that love a little more. I wouldn't want it to change where I am now but I have the feeling it could have been a little slice of wonderful amid all the crap I was dealing with back then.

But you're not here to hear my tragic little stories, are you? You're here to read all about the chance I took, the leap of faith I had to make, all in the name of L-O-V-E. Well hang on to your hats, ladies and gents, here's the non-Reader's Digest version.

It was the very beginning of September 2001 and I was about to begin my senior year at Slippery Rock. I was living in an on-campus apartment with my three roommates: L, K, & J. A picture of my dawgs, for reference. I'm second from the left.



We decided to have a Labor Day soiree in the name of loving to party and J decided to invite her boyfriend up. He, in turn, decided to invite his friend up. His friend, as I was told, was visiting his mom in Pittsburgh for the week. It was a booty call set-up semi-blind date. I was single, he was single, blah blah blah.

So I'm flitting about for two hours prior to their arrival, doing everything in my power to look gooooooood for this guy. I put enough product in my hair to shelac a 757 together, my Gap "Dream" all over me and my clothes, make up, the whole nine yards. I changed shirts three times. Then I get a call from our balcony that our guests had arrived. I took a deep breath and headed out to the balcony, smokes in hand (because it was necessary to smoke whenever one was out on the balcony) and I took in the sight of my future husband.

To be honest, his attire isn't much to talk about. Black jeans (yes, black jeans in the early '01s...he need some couture assistance), grey flannel button-down, beat-up Asics. Oh, and a Dale Earnhardt ballcap. Strapping young fellow. Well-dressed? Not so much. But oh, his face. His eyes, his smile, his deceptively confident air. I was smitten.

After J and I procured the alcohol for the evening, we all piled into the Hoopty Van Deusen (read: J's 90-something Dodge Caravan) and made our way to L's boyfriends place for the bonfire. The object of my affection and I talked all evening and that turned into a...um...well...ya see, the thing is, back then, I was, ummmm, a fun-loving girl.

ANYWAY.

The next morning, we went to Eat 'N Park for breakfast. Then he and J's boyfriend headed back to Pittsburgh with promises of hanging out later that week. I got a phone call later that afternoon - well, J did - from her boyfriend stating that he had "a little lost puppy dog on his hands" that wouldn't "stop talking about Darcie." :-)

J and I surprised them on Wednesday when we showed up at the porn shop J's boyfriend worked at. Then we agreed to all go out Thursday night. We hit up Dave & Busters and then went to a lookout on Mt. Washington. It was here that he promised me he'd be back - to stay - soon. Here's the view we had when he made this promise:



Friday I went home to work and Saturday, after work, I drove down to Pittsburgh to spend the night with him again. I also got to meet his mom - and go bar-hopping with her - and his mom's fiance. I'm sure she thought I was a floozy though, since the next time she saw me was the next morning in different clothes, looking like I hadn't slept all that much. Heh.

What she didn't know was that standing in her driveway, tearfully saying good-bye to her eldest son, was her future daughter-in-law. Hubby came back two months later, right before Thanksgiving. He traveled to New Jersey to meet my family for the holiday and when he came back, he moved into the apartment with me. In February, we moved back to my mom's house and we got engaged in April. It was such a whirlwind!

We married on October 19, 2002. It was a small, private ceremony in my mom's living room. I didn't wear a wedding dress, I wore a buttercream yellow gown, he wore a suit, and we each had one attendant. There was an informal reception afterwards with a much bigger crowd. That night, we watched Game 1 of the World Series between the San Francisco Giants and the Anaheim Angels. A picture of our wedding, a mere 11 months after our first "date."



We honeymooned in Orlando, Florida, hitting up Disney World and Universal Studios. We stopped by Washington, D.C. on our way back. We had such a blast on that trip. We love road trips, we've taken three since then. We moved out to California in May 2003 and it's been happily ever after since then!

Everyone said we were crazy. We wouldn't last, it was too quick, yadda yadda yadda. WHO'S LAUGHING NOW?! That's right bitches. We'll be married six years this fall. Two wonderful kids. A cat. His and Hers vehicles. We're that annoyingly happy couple who have fun all the damn time and can even laugh at our misfortunes. Guess we weren't so crazy, were we?