18 years

Today is a special day for Steven and I.

18 years ago today, Steven picked me up

at my apartment on 68th and Lowell in Westminster, CO

and we spent 12 hours together on that wonderful, memorable Sunday. 

I was working as an authorizations clerk in down town Denver at the time,

and I usually had Sundays off. I had, however, told a co-worker 

that particular week that I would cover her shift for her that Sunday.

When Steven asked me out for that day, I said "YES!"....

then had to beg a different co-worker, (and bribe him with a homemade cake)

to take that Sunday shift so I could go out with Steven.

~~~~~~~~~~

We'd gone on dates before,

in high school with our mutual friend, Shawn.

We saw quite a few movies 

and ate many slices of Pizza Hut pizza together,

but always as a trio.

Steven had also come to see me ice skate;

once when I performed a small, quite forgettable part

in my home rink's production of "Annie",

and again when I skated with my precision team during 

the opening ceremonies of the Nationals.

We were friends...

but I had an ENORMOUS crush on him. :)

Everyone knew it but Steven himself.

~~~~~~~~~~

Steven surprised me by showing up to my high school graduation

with a card and a beautiful long stemmed white rose.

I'd seen him a few times since his graduation two years earlier...

my good friend Katie plus a few others always found me

when Steven was in the building, telling me where they'd seen him

so I could make an appearance and say hello.

He played in the pit orchestra, (bass guitar) for

"The King and I", and danced with me 

at the tail end of my sophomore year while setting up a dance

at the school. I was thrilled! 

My friends and I had just doused ourselves,

and each other, in a water fight at the creek.

I remember what shorts I had on,

(dark blue jean cut offs)

and the fact that Steven put his fingers in my belt loops

and never once complained about the fact that I was sopping wet.

~~~~~~~~~~

After receiving that beautiful rose at graduation,

Steven asked me out on our first official date, just the two of us.

We saw a movie and then went and looked all over Broadway

at used car dealerships for a van his family was interested in buying.

It was raining, and it was goofy...

and it was wonderful.

~~~~~~~~~~

I moved to Denver after that, and Steven worked

and went to school at CU in Boulder.

Then one day, while I was working,

(that job as an authorizations clerk,

which sounds a heck of a lot more important than it really was)

I was struck by the date.

It was January 4th.

I didn't know why it was important,

but I knew for some reason that it was

so I looked it up in my address book.

It was important because it was Steven's 23rd birthday.

I sat down at work and wrote him a letter

and sent it to his parents' house 

on the off chance that they still lived there and could get it to him.

As luck would have it,

Steven was home from college on Christmas break and received it himself.

I got a letter back from him within a week asking me to call him,

and when I did, we set up our date for February 9th.

We've been "us" ever since.

~~~~~~~~~~

I think about that day a lot.

(I still remember what each of us was wearing...but I'm kind of crazy that way...)

I remember how I opened the door and saw him on the other side,

how the butterflies in my stomach took flight

and how he hugged me, tight and for a long time.

When I pulled away, he held on and hugged me again.

I remember going to Brittany Hill for lunch

and not being able to eat because I was so giddy and nervous and happy...

I remember how he held my hand as we sat at the airport

in his black BMW watching the planes

and listening to Richard Elliot as we talked and laughed,

and how surprised he was to hear that I, of all people, had a tattoo.

It was a wonderful, beautiful day, and I cherish the memories I have of it.

~~~~~~~~~~

Steven still shakes his head 

when I talk about how big of a crush I had on him in high school.

Eighteen years of being together, almost 15 of them in marriage,

and two kids later,

I still have a huge crush on him.