I remember it like it was yesterday. My cell phone rang at 5am. I had been half awake since the pager had gone off in the middle of the night. My boyfriend at the time was a member of the Roberts Creek Fire Department.
"You need to get up, go to the store and bring sandwiches and coffee to the Pen Hotel." So I grabbed a hoodie, still in my flannel jammies and hair unbrushed, I made my way to Subway. (which I owned at the time.) As quick as I could I made enough sandwiches for 30 people, grabbed juices and cookies and hit up the Starbucks for a huge container of coffee. Once I arrived I opened the back of my car and set up a make-shift food station for guys to come and grab something. There where a few guys on the other side of the scene so I grabbed a try of sandwiches and delivered it to them. And standing there across the lot, through the maze of fire-hose and trucks, was Arthur. I offered him a sandwich and he politely grabbed one. The very first words he ever said to me were:
"Are you married?" I just laughed and said no. "You wanna be?" he asked. "Who wouldn't want to marry a blond who brings me sandwiches." I just laughed at his weird comment and walked away. Later I thought to myself, that guy was totally weird, who says that??
Two years later we met again at a fire-hall function, both of us single at the time. He thought it would be funny to enter his number in my cell phone, and began texting me random comments the days following. I liked the attention, but to be honest, I though he was strange and way to old for me.
Somewhere in the month that followed, he suggested we go out for dinner. I objected at first, and when I finally changed my mind, I became the one chasing him. There were so many odds against us; our ex's, age, our busy jobs....but when we had our first unofficial date (coffee at Starbucks) we realized that there was something between us. We didn't know what it was or how it made sense, but we both agreed that a second unofficial date would be a good idea. I don't even know what it was about him that drew me to him. Maybe it was the way I felt protected with him, or the fact that he was so nervous when we were together, I know for sure it wasn't his big truck. Which is what he thought for sure would win me over. I started smiling over the thought of him, and whenever he walked through the door at the restaurant I got butterflies in my tummy.
When our first "official" date finally did come, it was dinner at the Waterfront. We couldn't keep from holding hands across the table, and he couldn't stop talking about marriage and that we will have "2.5 kids. Two kids and a dog." He kept saying that there was no reason for us not to get married and that it "seems like a really good idea." You would think I would have done running for the hills, but I somehow felt comfortable in the thought that I had maybe found that man that will be with me, work with me, protect me, love me for the rest of my life. Everything about our date was comfortable, natural, and a little magical. Eight weeks later we were engaged, and I not once had a second thought about it. Six years later I am happier than I have ever been. We have built a beautiful (although somewhat strange) home together, are raising two beautiful boys, and are together realizing that working and money aren't everything. Taking time to relax and laugh with the people you love is what life is all about. I can't imagine life without him. <3
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