Best Friends Turned Lovers -------the story of my husband and I
One of the best things about falling in love with your best friend…is that time isn't a factor. Despite our being together as best friends for well over 13 years, we can't help but to feel like it was just yesterday when we first told each other 'I love you'. He and I met in Sunday School when we were both 8 years old, and instantly became joined-at-the-hip. Everyone thought it was 'just so cute' and were always making fun of us because at that age, girls and boys aren't expected to be friends. Despite the teasing, however, we grew closer - we'd always find ways to sit next to each other, or talk to each other during the week. We even participated in events the other one was doing just so we could be together. By the time we were eleven years old, he and I had the type of friendship that got on peoples nerves...the type of friendship that involved most of our free time being spent if not at each others houses, then by hours on the phone every night (much to our parents annoyance at their tied-up-phone-lines).
One thing in particular that I remember is that by the time that we were twelve, we had our weddings planned out. When he was going to get married, I was going to be his Best Woman, and when I got married, he was going to be my man of honor (I can't help but to smirk at that title now). I was going to wear a black tux and top hat, and he would wear a shirt in the same colors of the bridesmaids. We would buy one of those huge duplex houses together and I was going to live on the left side and him on the right, and if our significant others didn’t like it, then they obviously weren’t the one for us.
I think back to that and I can’t help but to laugh.
It was during one of our phone conversations while we were thirteen that we finally admitted (to each other, that is) our true feelings. It had been after a rather intense weekend…we had both held hands during two plays we went to out of instinct, and a spark that we had both been hiding seemed to light up whenever we would look into each other‘s eyes.
Things were obviously different, but both of us were too nervous to bring it up with one another. That night on the phone he told me had something important to confess, that he had promised he would never keep anything from me and that over that past couple months he had been - and he didn’t feel right keeping me in the dark any longer. I, at this point, was more then curious...I knew what I wanted him to say, but at the same time, knew that I shouldn't get my hopes up. He told me he was going to tell me and then he was going to hang up do some chores and other things around the house, and he’d call me again after he’d finished - I couldn't help but to hold my breath.
He whispered that that he had fallen in love with a girl a long time ago, and that he felt horrible for keeping it a secret from me for so long. I asked him who it was, and he told me that the girl was me - and then he hung up. Well, I went ahead and did some things too. I screamed at the top of my lungs, ran around the house, jumping up and down, spinning, laughing hysterically…I was so happy. I had my family wondering thinking that I was crazy, especially by the time I was doing cartwheels in the living room.
After I had fallen flat on my face and nearly broke my nose, I calmed myself down so that I would be able to talk to him whe he called me back up. When he did, I told him I had felt the same way for a long time, but that I didn't want to loose my best friend if things didn't work out - so we made a promise to always put our friendship first, and that if we felt something was wrong, we would tell each other right away. We ended our conversation by telling each other 'I love you' in a way that we never had before.
Over the next several years, we had a great time growing up together, standing by one another and sometimes, carrying the other - we've learned how to balance our friendship and romance, and still manage to find new things about one another.
When he got down on bended knee at a park one December night 5 years later (completely surprising me, though our families and most of our friends had known about it before hand), I couldn't help but to feel as though we were just beginning...and the best part? We are.
One thing in particular that I remember is that by the time that we were twelve, we had our weddings planned out. When he was going to get married, I was going to be his Best Woman, and when I got married, he was going to be my man of honor (I can't help but to smirk at that title now). I was going to wear a black tux and top hat, and he would wear a shirt in the same colors of the bridesmaids. We would buy one of those huge duplex houses together and I was going to live on the left side and him on the right, and if our significant others didn’t like it, then they obviously weren’t the one for us.
I think back to that and I can’t help but to laugh.
It was during one of our phone conversations while we were thirteen that we finally admitted (to each other, that is) our true feelings. It had been after a rather intense weekend…we had both held hands during two plays we went to out of instinct, and a spark that we had both been hiding seemed to light up whenever we would look into each other‘s eyes.
Things were obviously different, but both of us were too nervous to bring it up with one another. That night on the phone he told me had something important to confess, that he had promised he would never keep anything from me and that over that past couple months he had been - and he didn’t feel right keeping me in the dark any longer. I, at this point, was more then curious...I knew what I wanted him to say, but at the same time, knew that I shouldn't get my hopes up. He told me he was going to tell me and then he was going to hang up do some chores and other things around the house, and he’d call me again after he’d finished - I couldn't help but to hold my breath.
He whispered that that he had fallen in love with a girl a long time ago, and that he felt horrible for keeping it a secret from me for so long. I asked him who it was, and he told me that the girl was me - and then he hung up. Well, I went ahead and did some things too. I screamed at the top of my lungs, ran around the house, jumping up and down, spinning, laughing hysterically…I was so happy. I had my family wondering thinking that I was crazy, especially by the time I was doing cartwheels in the living room.
After I had fallen flat on my face and nearly broke my nose, I calmed myself down so that I would be able to talk to him whe he called me back up. When he did, I told him I had felt the same way for a long time, but that I didn't want to loose my best friend if things didn't work out - so we made a promise to always put our friendship first, and that if we felt something was wrong, we would tell each other right away. We ended our conversation by telling each other 'I love you' in a way that we never had before.
Over the next several years, we had a great time growing up together, standing by one another and sometimes, carrying the other - we've learned how to balance our friendship and romance, and still manage to find new things about one another.
When he got down on bended knee at a park one December night 5 years later (completely surprising me, though our families and most of our friends had known about it before hand), I couldn't help but to feel as though we were just beginning...and the best part? We are.
Will You Marry Me...?
Chuck had come over to my house one night a week after Thanksgiving '06, and spent the evening talking to my dad. Now, for a little backstory, my dad goes on and on and on when he talks, and normally, I call Chuck up on his cellphone and tell him to come to wherever I am at in the house as a way of 'rescuing him'. Well, that night I had no idea he was even over, which wasn't all that unusual - he often stops by the house often without giving me a heads up, and my dad and him are close, so they spend a lot of time together.
My mom had came upstairs to my room to let me know that Chuck had been talking to my dad for a long time, and for me to call him to 'save' him. I was happy that he was over, and I went to call him, but he had turned off his phone - and at that point, the wheels in my head start turning. My mom told me to go downstairs and bring Chuck on up to my room, but I told her I didn't think that was a good idea, because they must be talking about something important. My moms rather naive reply was ''what could they possibly be talking about for so long?'' I raised my eyebrows a couple times, and she gasped before saying 'Oh my God!' and ran to the top of the stairs to eavesdrop. I, being the absolute angel that I am, followed her, and by doing so, we got both of my sisters attention, who then joined us. So, there we are, 4 females, sitting on the top steps, trying to listen to two hushed voices on the opposite side of the house. It was beyond comical - like a scene out of a movie where you see the four heads on tiered on top of one another. Despite being silent, we couldn't hear a thing, and an hour later, we heard Chucks car pull out of the driveway.
Fast forward to Saturday, December 16. Chuck came by the house to pick me up for an evening out wearing a COAT. Here is a well-know fact for those of you who don't know us - Chuck has never worn a coat in his life. It'll be 10 degrees outside, and he'll be in a t-shirt, maybe with a threadbare black flannel on top. My jaw dropped, and I couldn't resist making a comment to him about it. He told me that this particular coat was great, because (as he unzipped it and turned the inside out) it had a hidden pocket on the side that he could hide my engagement ring in whenever he decided to propose. I laughed and told him that because he had told me that, I planned on patting him down security-style whenever I saw him wearing it in the future.
We went out and bought fruit smoothies (a favorite drink for both of us) and decided to spend our night at Bakers Park - despite the 40 degree weather. We talked for about an hour and goofed off, and eventually got a blanket to stargaze in the middle of the baseball diamond they have in the center of the park. After a while, we headed back to the huge water fountain, and we chased each other around the Bell Tower like two 5-year-olds, trying to out run each other. We finally stopped for breath in the front of the tower, where I started going on about how when I die, I would like a tower named after me. Stupid, morbid and definitely not something I would normally say, but I continued to go on for awhile. Finally, Chuck interrupted me and asked to try on my gloves. At first I was hesitant, because it was so cold out, but I let him anyways - they didn't even fit past his fingers, his hands were so big! When I asked for them back, he told me that he wanted to hang on to them for a little while longer...and at that point, my heart started beating really fast.
Within the next few seconds, he had pulled out a ring box from the OTHER side of his coat (he lead me on!) and got down on one knee as his eyes were tearing up. He tried to choke out the words 'will you marry me', but he was so overwhelmed that he momentarily lost his voice. After he had got the words out, I dropped to the ground, completely surprised. A few moments later, I remembered to tell him yes mid-kiss, and we broke apart, laughing. After we had both finished crying, he gave me a little romantic speech (haha, I know, AFTER he asks) and slipped the ring on my finger. We walked around the park for another hour or so afterwards, and threw pennies into the creek, wishing for a good future together (they hit one another going down, which we found romantic). When I made it back home at a little past midnight, I walked in and screamed at the top of my lungs...
"I'M ENGAGED"!!!!
(I'm sure the neighbors heard it too)
My dad had clearly known about it beforehand (Chuck had called him earlier in the afternoon to let him know that he was going to ask me that night), and was waiting for me when I got home with cups of hot chocolate, just so he could be the first to tell me congratulations - and for me not to show the ring to my mom, cause she would get jealous ;-)
We ended up having to push the date back a few times over the course of 3 years...the first was because of my health (I got very sick shortly after we became engaged and wasn't able to plan a wedding, much less take the risk of going off my fathers insurance, since I was still a student). The second time was because of hectic school schedules and being in the process of finding a house...we put several offers down over the course of a 4 months and were outbid or had them fall through at the last minute - and getting married without a place to live wasn't really such a great idea. By the time the 3rd date rolled around, we were more then ready to get the whole thing over with, and start our life already!
My mom had came upstairs to my room to let me know that Chuck had been talking to my dad for a long time, and for me to call him to 'save' him. I was happy that he was over, and I went to call him, but he had turned off his phone - and at that point, the wheels in my head start turning. My mom told me to go downstairs and bring Chuck on up to my room, but I told her I didn't think that was a good idea, because they must be talking about something important. My moms rather naive reply was ''what could they possibly be talking about for so long?'' I raised my eyebrows a couple times, and she gasped before saying 'Oh my God!' and ran to the top of the stairs to eavesdrop. I, being the absolute angel that I am, followed her, and by doing so, we got both of my sisters attention, who then joined us. So, there we are, 4 females, sitting on the top steps, trying to listen to two hushed voices on the opposite side of the house. It was beyond comical - like a scene out of a movie where you see the four heads on tiered on top of one another. Despite being silent, we couldn't hear a thing, and an hour later, we heard Chucks car pull out of the driveway.
Fast forward to Saturday, December 16. Chuck came by the house to pick me up for an evening out wearing a COAT. Here is a well-know fact for those of you who don't know us - Chuck has never worn a coat in his life. It'll be 10 degrees outside, and he'll be in a t-shirt, maybe with a threadbare black flannel on top. My jaw dropped, and I couldn't resist making a comment to him about it. He told me that this particular coat was great, because (as he unzipped it and turned the inside out) it had a hidden pocket on the side that he could hide my engagement ring in whenever he decided to propose. I laughed and told him that because he had told me that, I planned on patting him down security-style whenever I saw him wearing it in the future.
We went out and bought fruit smoothies (a favorite drink for both of us) and decided to spend our night at Bakers Park - despite the 40 degree weather. We talked for about an hour and goofed off, and eventually got a blanket to stargaze in the middle of the baseball diamond they have in the center of the park. After a while, we headed back to the huge water fountain, and we chased each other around the Bell Tower like two 5-year-olds, trying to out run each other. We finally stopped for breath in the front of the tower, where I started going on about how when I die, I would like a tower named after me. Stupid, morbid and definitely not something I would normally say, but I continued to go on for awhile. Finally, Chuck interrupted me and asked to try on my gloves. At first I was hesitant, because it was so cold out, but I let him anyways - they didn't even fit past his fingers, his hands were so big! When I asked for them back, he told me that he wanted to hang on to them for a little while longer...and at that point, my heart started beating really fast.
Within the next few seconds, he had pulled out a ring box from the OTHER side of his coat (he lead me on!) and got down on one knee as his eyes were tearing up. He tried to choke out the words 'will you marry me', but he was so overwhelmed that he momentarily lost his voice. After he had got the words out, I dropped to the ground, completely surprised. A few moments later, I remembered to tell him yes mid-kiss, and we broke apart, laughing. After we had both finished crying, he gave me a little romantic speech (haha, I know, AFTER he asks) and slipped the ring on my finger. We walked around the park for another hour or so afterwards, and threw pennies into the creek, wishing for a good future together (they hit one another going down, which we found romantic). When I made it back home at a little past midnight, I walked in and screamed at the top of my lungs...
"I'M ENGAGED"!!!!
(I'm sure the neighbors heard it too)
My dad had clearly known about it beforehand (Chuck had called him earlier in the afternoon to let him know that he was going to ask me that night), and was waiting for me when I got home with cups of hot chocolate, just so he could be the first to tell me congratulations - and for me not to show the ring to my mom, cause she would get jealous ;-)
We ended up having to push the date back a few times over the course of 3 years...the first was because of my health (I got very sick shortly after we became engaged and wasn't able to plan a wedding, much less take the risk of going off my fathers insurance, since I was still a student). The second time was because of hectic school schedules and being in the process of finding a house...we put several offers down over the course of a 4 months and were outbid or had them fall through at the last minute - and getting married without a place to live wasn't really such a great idea. By the time the 3rd date rolled around, we were more then ready to get the whole thing over with, and start our life already!