Life had been good…
I had a great family. Heritage. Security. Foundation. Relationship with the world. It was where everything would be ok. Where the future was bright, and exciting.
Of course it couldn’t last. You can’t build upon broken…
The news that would tear down my self imagined security came through a pay phone. It was like a wrecking ball with 19 years and 4800 miles worth of built up force … “I’ve moved to Fort Worth. We’re gonna get a divorce…”
So yeah, the next few years were hard.
But I learned that people are complicated. We aren’t as good as our best … or as bad as our worst. And that things aren’t necessarily what they seem. Looking back, I can see God’s hand guiding. Drawing. Changing.
…life was good again.
Meeting her wasn’t part of my plan. Certainly not the way it happened. Not set up by my aunt and my mom. Definitely not. I tried to make sure it wouldn’t work. I fixed an out. Who knew she would be home to answer the phone. Even so, it shouldn’t have worked…
“Hello.”
“Hi. Is this Heather?”
“Yes.”
“Well dang. You weren’t supposed to be home.”
That was Friday, January 7, 2000. She lived one hundred and fifty miles north. I had previously made plans for the next day and the next Saturday. So we talked on the phone every day for two weeks instead. She was my dream…
I saw her for the first time on January 22, 2000… 20 years ago today. It was our first real date. I mean actually in person. I can’t say that I was nervous. After two years worth of long distance in two weeks, there wasn’t much doubt left. Still, I was wholly unprepared for how beautiful she was when she opened the door and said, “Good. I’m hungry. Let’s go eat.”
Have you been completely disconnect from time and space? She was simply perfect. Her eyes and her hair were the kind of brown that suggests the very first color God bestowed upon the earth. But not only that, her hair was reflecting a kind red like only comes from a wild Texas sunset, and her eyes… the most beautiful brown eyes … seemed to show just a hint of green. A magnificent Irish green…
We had lunch at an old barbecue place I knew. I couldn’t take my future bride just anywhere. We sat in the back next to a window. She was wearing jeans and a green sweater. We drank Dr. Peppers out of the bottle.
I had dreamed of the perfect girl. And now I had her. Or she had me. But either way, it all became real twenty years ago today.
Better even than my dreams.