It's been 7 years today since Jeff and I had our first date. Well, 2 dates on the same day. I don't have any photos from that day but we pretty much looked like this. I mean I wore those pants and had long hair. He was bald and he smoked.
Someday, I'll post our whole "how we met" story but today I want to try and remember that first date. It was actually supposed to be yesterday, 7 years ago. I got a call from him in the late afternoon cancelling our dinner plans because he had forgotten he had "flight lessons." I immediately called my best friend, Timnaat, and ranted on how I was being stood up with a bigus excuse, nonetheless.
However, this gentleman offered to meet me for coffee and breakfast the next morning. I had no idea how integral coffee would become to our entire relationship.
So, the next morning, I woke up, got gussied up in my favorite pair of pants (what was I thinking? Do you see the print? Pukelicious), and made my way to the local coffee joint. After a few minutes, I see Jeff walking towards me ... with a coffee cup in his hand. My first thought? "What a doofus! We are going to breakfast at a cafe and he stopped to get a coffee?" Little did I know the number of cups of coffee I would see in the next 7 years.
We sat down to breakfast and I ordered something. He didn't get anything because "he didn't eat breakfast." He still doesn't. So, I am thinking, "gah, he doesn't eat breakfast, yet he asked to meet for coffee and breakfast, wth? Am I supposed to sit here and stuff my face while he watches?" So, I got a pastry and we sort of split it. As we sat there tlaking, I cracked some joke about his flight lesson and he very seriously started telling me all about the hours he'd put in and how many more he needed. I was very impressed. Made a mental note to call Tim back and tell her he hadn't been lying. Eventually, I even got to go up in tiny planes with him and his instructor, which was probably one of the coolest things I've ever gotten to do in my life.
After breakfast, we parted ways with promises to call each other. I went home, not sure whether to expect a call or not. I wasn't going to be the one making the call. That evening, I had plans to see some movie with friends from college (Chad & Theo). Halfway through the movie, my phone rang. It was Jeff calling to ask if I wanted to meet up. I randomly picked some bar in downtown and asked him to meet me there after my movie was over. Had Chad drop me off at the Union Jack Pub. Jeff asked what I wanted to drink and I, in all my sophistication, said "white wine." I have learned since then, never ever ever EVER order white wine in a hole in the wall pub. It was the nastiest thing I'd ever tasted and I couldn't even say that since he just bought it for me. The evening's a blur, I know we laughed at the mediocre band playing in there, the middle aged scantily dressed women trying to get the mediocre bandmembers' attention and eventually, even my bad judgment in drinks.
The rest, as they say, is history.
Here's to 7 years of history! I love you, Jeffrey Michael Williams!
And today was amazing. You stayed up for a bit this evening without being fussy or hungry. You played in your nani's (grandmother's) lap, taking your time to Houdini your arms out of the swaddle blanket. Then you, stayed up and played in my lap. You held my fingers and allowed me to play around with you. You gave us some smiles and frowns and weird faces.
