Kim is having a fun little 3-part blog thing this week and I'm playing along but have adapted the timetable just a smidge. Smidge. Is that word still in use? I'm pretty sure my kids won't like it. Anyway, Monday was part 1 and Kim asked people to tell how they met their significant other. She also asked how you knew he/she was 'the one'. I missed that post so I'm telling our story today.
Hubs and I met many years ago. Feels like a lifetime. Well, half a lifetime anyway. We were students at the same university in a small Tennessee town. He was a preppy Southern boy and I was that Yankee girl. If you weren't watching Saturday Night Live back in the late 70s and early 80's you won't appreciate this but SNL used to have a skit back then where Joe Piscopo would say, "You're from Jersey? I'm from Jersey! What exit?" I wish I had a nickel for every time someone at uni asked me that question and then laughed hysterically at their clever self.
It was Exit 4 by the way. If you were from NJ of course you knew 'what exit'.
Back to me and the hubs. He loves to tell people that we had a history class together at the beginning of our sophomore year and his roommate was also in the class and they thought I was pretty and they also thought I was unfriendly. Except they didn't use that word. ahem. Here's the thing-my roommate was also in that class so she and I walked in together talking the whole time, sat together talking the whole time, and left together talking the whole time. I was not unfriendly.
I was in a sorority and hubs was in a fraternity so our paths crossed every so often at events and parties. Mostly everyone knew hubs because that's just how he has always rolled. I thought he was cute and a little bit mischievous and his sense of fun and the way he grabbed at life appealed to this rule follower. Alas, he had a girlfriend at the time so that was that. In the spring of our sophomore year one of my best friends was dating one of his best friends and they orchestrated an introduction after he and the girlfriend broke up. We went on our first date soon after. I guess I might mention here that hubs had a broken hand and a black eye when we went out the first time. You know that saying about 'wild oats'? Yeah. Let's just say he sowed a few and we'll move on along.
We dated and met the families and made lots of memories and had a lot of fun. We graduated and got jobs and lived in our own apartments in separate towns for about a year and still we stuck. He also likes to tell people about the night I asked him to marry me. Right. We're sharing proposal stories in part 2 so you'll have to tune in tomorrow to hear the real 411.
How did I know he was 'the one'...I'm not sure. The first year and a half we dated we were very much on again off again. I think 21 year old boys need space in their lives to grow up and work out some things before they settle down. And I gave him that space. I think we complimented one another in that he loosened me up and I calmed him down. And while in some ways our approach to life was opposite we held similar beliefs when it came to the really important matters of the heart and the future and family and life.
Oh, and did I mention he was fun?
Why not visit Kim and tell your story too?
Isn't that the Blairstown exit? Or are we talking the Garden State Parkway? I was referring to Rt. 80. So on the turnpike, it would be 14C for me, and on the GSP, it would be Exit 153 to Rt. 3, etc., etc. I digress. This post was not all about exits in Jersey now was it? I guess I can relate and, yes, I used to watch SNL at that time. Funny stuff. Have you ever seen the skit with Alec Baldwin as a radio talk show host/guest? After they would discuss a topic they would say, "Good times." Or Adam Sandler doing a Halloween skit in which he would come up with lame costumes to get candy? "Hey, I'm crazy spoon-on-my-head guy. Now gimme some canday!" I crack myself up. Now I'm on a SNL kick!
ReplyDeleteYou and hubs make a great couple. I loved how you described you not being unfriendly because of all the talking that was going on with your friend before, during, and after class. Funny!
I'm looking forward to the real story on your engagement.
thanks for playing along! did you link up?
ReplyDeleteTomorrow is part 2 - can't wait!
How fun! I loved reading about how you and hubs met. Hm ... maybe I need to check this out? LOL.
ReplyDeleteMy husband recruited me for a job. At the time, I was living in Florida and I took the job and moved to Arizona. We got married eleven months later and it will be 26 years in a few weeks.
I know what you're talking about regarding the exit numbers. I'm from Long Island so close neighbors.
You! Unfriendly?!
ReplyDeleteDon't believe it. :)
Very cute. Fun to hear how you meet him.
ReplyDeleteI loved reading this! It's so cool to hear how couples met!
ReplyDeleteMy husband says I kissed him first. FOR THE RECORD, that is not true. And we, too, were VERY off and on.
ReplyDelete