Now

20 years ago...

I had just met this really cute guy, a guy one of my girlfriends had written to me about while I was at school in fact. His name was Chris and she had had a crush on him. I could see why.
I met Chris at a Halloween dance at Church.
I was dressed as a "flapper", he was dressed as Robert Smith from The Cure.
We had "run" in to each other at parties all weekend and at church on Sunday he asked me out.
I was thrilled.

We were going to a museum and dinner on Thursday.

That gave me 4 days to obsess about what I was going to wear!

6 hours and $241.00 later I had decided on a new pair of jeans and a sweater from The Gap.
He picked me up at 4 o'clock.
He smelled great.
What I really noticed were his hands.
Masculine hands, great nails, and manly arms while he shifted.
He had jazz on the cd player, Dave Brubeck.
Conversation was easy.
He mentioned we would be going to the Egyptian Museum around the corner from his Grandfather's house where he lived.
I had seen him with his Grandfather at young Adult activities.
Chris lived with his Grandfather after his mission.
Keeping him company and keeping grandfather out of trouble.
He told me a little about his Grandfather and I could tell how much Chris admired and loved him. He informed me we Grandfather would be joining us for dinner.
The tour of the museum was great and I was so impressed with how much knowledge Chris had about everything there.
(It was months later before I figured out he kept taking me to museums on dates because of the art history class he was taking. I just thought he was incredibly cultured.)
We went to a quaint neighborhood grocery to buy things to make dinner.
Yeah, he was making me dinner too!
After meeting Grandfather, quite possibly the cutest old man on the planet, Chris asked me to help him with dinner. "Why don't you start the salad?" he asked.
As I started to slice the cucumbers I accidentally sliced my finger.
Chris bandaged me up, so I started slicing again, only to slice the tip off my next finger.
Another bandage and plenty of blushing, I attempted to finish my task...
yes, you guessed it, only to slice the top of my ring finger too!
"Why don't you watch the pasta? I'm out of band aids."
(He had full disclosure on my homemaking skills.)

Dinner was wonderful, Grandfather was delightful.
After dinner Grandfather invited me to watch "Wheel of Fortune" with him.
I so didn't want to go home, but the evening was winding down.
I was trying to think of a way to hint that I would love to spend more time with Chris when he said, "I really don't want to take you home, how about a movie?"
JACKPOT!
We went and saw Bambi.
I was more than twitterpatted!
Chris dropped me off after 1 am, but my evening was not over.
At dinner it had come up that the next day was Chris' birthday. When I asked if I was invited
to his party, he responded, "This is it."
(His Mom was out of town and they were planning to celebrate when she got back)
Not one to pass on a chance to celebrate, I took it upon myself to celebrate for him.
I did worry that it had only been our first date and I didn't want to scare him off,
but I decided that's who i am, the type who throws a party for someone I just met and it doesn't have to mean more than that. If he doesn't like my efforts, he probably won't like me, so I went for it. I headed to Safeway around 2 am and begged the guy to blowup some helium balloons for me. I got streamers, a card, and supplies for a homemade 3 layer chocolate cake.
I baked and frosted and got to Chris' house around 4 am. I decorated the garage, the front yard and placed the cake on the porch under a fancy picnic dome thingy to keep the bugs out.
I got home by 5:30, jumped in the shower to be at work by 7:15.
I waited...all day...wondering what he thought and hoping I remembered the right house.
In the morning Grandfather woke Chris and told him to get up,
"There's a mess all over the front porch for you!"

Chris says he opened the door and knew he had fallen in love.
That was 20 years ago today.

Happy Birthday sweetheart!
I love you, and you have another "mess" waiting for you when you get home!