I have mentioned before that my husband first appeared in my life long before he was,
Well,
Mine.

In fact, the origins of our paths crossing dates back over twenty-some years,
When we attended the same nursery school.
And then attended the same preschool.
And then the same elementary school.
And then the same middle school.
And then the same high school.
I know, really.
But, alas, we did not attend the same college,
Of course,
But that does not mean that I did not spend time at his college,
When I was visiting my best friend there,
A visit during which we decided to go to the one and only frat party I would attend at that school,
A party at his frat house,
A party which he hosted.
A party at which I even used his bathroom,
no toilet paper and all,
But, did we actually meet and fall in love at any of these thousands of times that we were in the exact same place at the exact same time?
Nope.
Of course not.
That’s not the way fate works,
I guess.
At least not in this story.

Years later, we both ended up back where our stories began. We were both at home.

Same place, same time.
We were both looking for something,
For someone, really.
So, of course, the most logical thing to do
Was to track down that little yenta Cupid on our quest for true love.
Like every good Jewish 20-something looking for love,
We went on JDate.

We were both somewhat JDate reserved.
We talked to a few people.
We went on a few dates.
Nothing escalated.
Nothing excited either of us.

Until that one frigid day in late winter that I got a “flirt”
Yes, a “flirt”,
That became the introduction
To our tale.

“I see you were an English major. So was I. What was your concentration?”

He had me at “English Major”.

Or, not quite.

I can remember exactly when I got his message.
I was taken aback when I saw his picture and his name registered with me.
This kid had been a Senior when I was a Freshman in High School.
He was in the same grade as all of my friends’ brothers,
So although I knew him, I didn’t really know him.

So, at that moment, I decided that I most certainly would not be dating this guy.
Now, if only I could log into JDate now to see my response,
which I’m sure was something cool and noncommittal.

In any case, I cancelled my JDate membership,
And he got my screen name.

We were just going to be friends.
And when he Instant Messaged me
(I know, the beauty of young romance)
I had no expectations.

Except, our conversations were amazing.
Exciting,
Different,
Fun,
Familiar.
And this was just over IM.

He loved food as much as I did,
And let me tell you,
That is a lot.

So, we spent a lot of hours in the beginning,
Over IM,
Talking about food.

What can I say?
I guess we all can see where the key to my heart lies…

As the days of IMs and emails and texts went on,
I started to like this guy who I had grown up riding the school bus with.
He was different than I remembered,
And I wanted to know more.

So, when he asked me if he could call me and we could continue our conversations on the phone,
I quieted my butterflies and pressed “Answer” on my old Samsung flip phone.

The first thing I noticed was that
He had (has) the most beautiful voice,
Which I still cannot describe in words,
But I think it made me start to fall in love with him.

We talked about our lives
And shared secrets
And the minutes turned into hours,
As we talked through the night and into the morning.

Still, I was not quite ready to meet for a date.
So, we talked for hours every night.
And every day.

Until, one day, I had to cut our conversation short.
I had an appointment.
I told him I was going to the allergist.
However, in full disclosure, I was going to see a therapist. I first went to this psychologist many years earlier when my grandmother was sick and dying, and I would go every so often, , every few years, just to check in, when I needed a little advice.
Even though we had shared a great deal over the phone,
I wasn’t quite ready to tell this guy, a guy whom I’d never really met, that I was going to see a shrink.
I was scared he would go running for the hills.

So, I told him we would talk after my allergy appointment,
And I went to tell my therapist all about this new, exciting guy.
And so, after my appointment,
Anxious to go home and finish my conversation with my crush,
I pulled out of her driveway and cut off a black Volkswagen with my black Toyota.
I looked up,
As I realized,
in horror.
That it was him.
I couldn’t believe it.
I hadn’t seen him, in person, since High School,
But there, behind the wheel,
Was my crush, staring right at me.

Stay tuned for Chapter 2….and trust me, you haven’t heard the end of this story….