Falling in {Young} Love

Seventeen years ago this week, I was falling in love.  And I was thirteen.  People would tell me I was young and naive, that it wasn't really love, and more... and to be honest, I started to believe them.  Not that what I was feeling wasn't genuine - because I never doubted that - but that maybe with time and age I would realize that it was more infatuation than actual love.  That maybe it felt more intense because I had never experienced it before. 

It was the weekend before Martin Luther King Day and my sister, Amanda - who was fifteen at the time, and I went on a ski trip with a church in our neighborhood.  I'm not sure how many of us there were, but there were at least twenty of us in middle school and high school going on the ski trip - both guys and girls.  My best friend, Christine, was going too and I was super excited to have a fun weekend away with her.  Peyton & Damen were going and that meant Tony was going, too.  (Because back in those days they went just about everywhere together.)  There were two vans to take the group of us from Memphis to Gatlinburg... my sister went into one with a bunch of the kids her age and I went into the other with my friends.  Tony hadn't decided which one he was riding in and I was just PRAYING he would hop into mine.  I remember one of the older girls telling Tony he should get in their van and I just remember feeling crushed.  I don't know what exactly made him decide to get into the van I was in... but for WHATEVER reason we ended up in the same van I am so extremely thankful!  It was on that trip in that moment that we got to know each other a little more, we became better friends, and made some fun memories.  It was on that trip that I truly started falling in love with Tony.  And what took place over that long weekend are things I'll never forget.

I think about one particular moment often - what if he would've chosen the other van?  Would he have made those memories with someone else?  And where would we be now?  This story could've been one between him and someone else.

So, I thank God for Martin Luther King and everything he did to advance the lives of all humankind.  The sacrifices he made and the extremely difficult, intensely beautiful journey he took.  While that will always be the focus of the day for me, I can't help but remember how the long weekend holds a secret, special place in my heart and how it always will.  And thank God for falling in young love.

First Day of Spring.

There are all different reasons to celebrate the special days that changed your life - the day someone was born, the day you met someone important, the day you married the love of your life, the day you gave birth, the day you got clean/sober. What's so amazing is usually we don't fully know how much or in what ways our lives are about to be impacted. There is no way to know how significant or incredible these 24 hours will be for days, weeks, and years to come. It starts out just like every other day.

Fourteen years ago I started dating the guy of my dreams.

I remember the day we met - or at least the day that got the ball rolling. He was wearing his yellow Old Navy sweatshirt and was riding his bike around the parking lot of Brookside Baptist. I was on my way to the soccer field for practice. I plucked up the courage and without thinking said "hey" to him and halfway expected him to say nothing. Instead he said "hey" right back to me.

I remember when I first fell in love with him - at the ripe age 13. We were on a ski trip with a bunch of kids from Brookside Baptist and we rode to and from Gatlinburg and Memphis together in the same van. We were with a bunch of our mutual friends and it was a safe space where we could just have fun and be ourselves. I got to know him a little better over the long Martin Luther King Jr. weekend in 2001 and on the way back home from the trip I was head over heels for this sweet, quiet, kind, funny, playful older guy.

I remember our first kiss. It was an accident! We were leaning in to hug each other and our heads turned the same way and our faces ended up meeting and it was so incredibly awkward considering how well we'd known each other and how much we liked each other at this point. I remember going back inside and detailing the kiss to my big sister and then dissecting it with her. And to this day I love that moment - how hilarious it is to relive and think about - and how grateful I am that our awkward first kiss happened.

I remember the day he asked me to be his girlfriend. And I remember the day I said yes. Tony had asked me to be his girlfriend before and instead of saying yes - I told him I needed more time. To be completely honest, the gravity of our relationship was too much for me at the time. It felt like the real deal from day one between us and that was intimidating. Not to mention the foundation of our relationship was sturdily built on our friendship. What if we dated and for some reason it didn't work out... I would lose my best friend. That was a risk that at the time I wasn't willing to take. My cousin came in town to visit and she told me what an idiot I was for not being his girlfriend - that he was such a nice guy and he was clearly crazy about me. I don't remember what exactly changed between us to get me to say yes, but I remember Breanne being so honest and real with me and that was a huge wake-up call to me. I remember telling him I was ready and to ask me again. He told me this was the last time asking... that he wouldn't do it again. So March 20, 2003 after asking three times and it being WAY overdue... we made it official.

I love that it coincided with the first day of Spring when it is all about growth, newness, transformation, and renewal. I'm glad Tony never gave up on me when it would have been much easier to do so. I cherish every year I've had with him and everything we've shared.

We've come a LONG way since the Brookside days... and he's still my best guy and truest friend and without a doubt the great love of my life. And the best is yet to come!