How We Got Together & Started DD - Part 3

Sit back and hold on to something, this post is going to cover a LOT of ground (6 months).  


September:
One week before my senior year started, we were contacted by the school offering me the opportunity to attend high school in the morning and college in the afternoons.  Basically they started a new program with the community college down the street and those students that had only 3 credits left to earn to graduate and have a high GPA would be qualified.  So I would start college the following year as a sophomore instead of a freshman.  I wanted to do it the second I heard the offer, but my Dad was not going with it.. I knew Alex was graduating in December and he had made it pretty clear we were an item by this point.  A slow item, as he was dating me in group outings and he had only kissed me the one time... Grrrrr.  But I wanted to fast track my college education and not miss the Alex bus.  I love my Dad, but he is the old school, women should stay home and raise the kids kind of guy. Men go out and hunt and gather, they support the family..

(I kid you not, he said hunt and gather!!!)

My Mom and I rallied and won, but it took several weeks for my Dad to come around. So my senior year started out a bit bumpy. I think Alex ultimately brought my Dad around, he wasn't happy my senior year was going to be more hectic. But he knew it was what I wanted and so he was supportive. He was also of the thought that if I was busier, I would stay out of trouble.  Whatever!

Everyone in the program was assigned a buddy, so we could help each other and cover for each other if one of us was out sick or missed a class. My buddy was Lori, my polar opposite in just about every way possible.  Cheerleader, never seen in anything but a dress and perfect make up every day.. She ran school fundraisers, organized activities and dances.. I avoided them like the plague.  So we knew of each other, but didn't really know each other. So this experience threw us together and I think it shocked the both of us how well we got along.  She even talked me into attending the Homecoming dance in October and we doubled.

November:
Alex invited my family to celebrate Thanksgiving with his family, so that was the first of many LARGE celebrations with his family.  My brother made it home and ate everything in sight... He was different and it took us a few days to find our rhythm but it was a great time and when he left again I felt much better. But he did bring home a huge bag of dirty clothes, so my Mom and I worked on that together.

December:
Alex graduated from college and got offered a really good position in a large company.  He was going to be sent out of town for several weeks in January for orientation and training.  So I was happy for him, but had really mixed feelings about him being gone for so long.  Plus, I always had in the back of my mind he would go and fall head over heels for some classy business lady that was closer to his age. But he spent as much time with me over the holidays as he could and on New Years... I got my second kiss...and my third.. and my forth... Yes, it was a long night and the start of regular kisses!  FINALLY!

January:
Alex was gone for three weeks..... He called me daily and sent me flowers often.  We would lay in bed on the phone together and listen to each other breath.. I fell asleep like that several times, drove my parents crazy. I think he spent most of his first paycheck paying for the phone bill.  :0)

February:
Alex was back but we didn't have much time together right away, so he promised me a very special Valentines date. So in preparation of our date, I gave Lori her dream.. She got to make me over and help me find the perfect dress.. Our one battle was over heels, I didn't want to fall on my face on Valentines.  She spent the better part of a weekend helping me pull it all together and in the end I wore the heels.  Alex is 6'4 and I am only 5'7, so heels help bridge that gap a bit for us. Plus they do wonderful things for my legs and I was going for it with this outfit.  The look on Alex's face when I came down the stairs was priceless, my Mom got it on camera.. I have a copy in my scrap book, one of my favorite pictures ever.

Alex took me to a really nice Italian restaurant for dinner, that was an hour out of town.  We had a booth tucked back in a corner, with runny candles and everything. I was super impressed and in awe of it all, Alex even ordered for both of us. We had a great meal and shared a chocolate dessert and laughed over who got more.  After dinner Alex got me settled back in his car and said he knew of a park that had a pond with many hungry ducks and he whipped out a bag with several loaves of bread.  It was perfect... I had heels on. Sigh.  He said the ducks wouldn't mind if I went bare foot and neither would he for that matter so off we went. The path to the pond was a bit rough going so a quarter of the way Alex scooped me up and carried me, which had me thinking this night couldn't get any better.. I was wrong!

We came around a bend in the path and by the pond both our families were gathered and a big cheer went up as they saw us.  It took me a few minutes to understand what was happening, by then he had me on my feet and he was digging into his pocket and going down on one knee in front of me.  I cried through the entire proposal and I am certain he said really nice romantic things.. But I was just really a mess and could just shake my head yes and watch him slip the ring on my finger.  He gave me a heart shaped diamond, because I had taken his heart. (I still have my original diamond, but it comes out of the setting all the time. I think it is due to the shape, but I will never part with it!)

To be continued...(But a sneak peek)

A few months later... Jay's truck, a borrowed bull dog (maybe stolen, depends how you look at it) and a ditch would prove to be the perfect combination to land me over Alex's knee for the first time... He includes the stop sign thing too, but I think the first three were enough.  I will tell you the sad details of how it all went down in my final part 4 post.

Have a great weekend!!!