John and I had been introduced by a friend of mine who was in the same small group as John and his girlfriend (Sally, for those of you who remember her). John had made some weird, nerdy comments and I thought he was cute, but a little strange. I was a very quiet person at that time (not to mention that I was on the awkward side, having orange frizzy hair and braces), so I think I barely spoke to John at all.
Later that evening, the YCEW team held a presentation in the student union and John was forced into doing a small skit that he had done for the kids in Cuba. The basic idea was that John's gloved hand had a mind of it's own and was attempting to kill him. Strange, but funny for little kids. During that skit, as I was watching along with all the other youth, I felt a little twinge deep inside. At that time, I didn't recognize the feeling and quickly dismissed it.
During the rest of the week, John and I spent more time together (along with other people) and I finally began to have full conversations with him (!). It wasn't until the bus ride home from the youth beach trip that I realized I had a little crush on him. At the end of the week, we exchanged email addresses and went on home. Him to Tigard, Oregon; me to Tacoma, Washington.
Fast forward to two years later: We had kept in touch and had seen each other once since the summer we met. It was John's senior year of high school and he sent me an email saying that he had been accepted at the University of Pennsylvania and would be moving to Philadelphia that fall. I cried. We made plans to see each other once more at Yearly Meeting that July. I decided that it was probably my only chance to finally tell him that I had feelings for him. After two years of keeping it to myself, you'd think I'd be excited to get it out. Really though, I wanted to throw up. I had always been a very shy person and though I had gotten a little more outgoing in those two years (thank you, Haley Thornburg!), I was still terrified of saying something so open to anyone. Especially someone that I cared about. Someone who could potentially break my heart and cause me horrible embarrassment.
He had come to the evening service with his youth group and as they were preparing to leave, I pulled John aside and asked if I could speak with him privately before he left. His youth leader, Don, told John to meet them at the van when we were done talking. So, I told John how I felt. Not in a very strong, confident way, but I thought he got the point. I came to find out later that he didn't get it and even when he got back to the van and his youth leader took him aside and said, "You know she likes you, right?" (keep in mind I had briefly met Don just minutes earlier - he is just that perceptive), John didn't believe it. It took the next day (8 years ago), when I told him again in a more direct manner. We shared our first kiss and then he promptly rejected me. I joke that I'm the only girl he's ever rejected. Funny, but true. He told me that he thought I was nice, pretty, and a great friend.....but he was going off to college and wasn't interested in a relationship. Ouch.
Well, we kept in touch even after he went off to college and you all can figure out the ending. :^)
We went to Yearly Meeting last night for the evening service and re-visited our benches. You see, there is a bench were we sat when I confessed my love for him and a bench where we sat when we had our first kiss. I've included some pictures from yesterday and you can click on any of them to enlarge. It was important to us to get pictures of these spots with our children in them. It's funny how "childhood love" can blossom into a wonderful marriage and beautiful children. Enjoy.
John and the boys on the "confessional" bench.
Me and the boys on the "kissing" bench.
John and I on the "kissing" bench, sitting in the exact same spots (yes, we're strange like that). Sorry it's blurry - I took two, but we looked awful in the other one.
Nathan in the rose garden. No memories there, just a picture. I love how his nose is all wrinkled!
Aiden in the rose garden.
1 comment:
Fun story.
I was on campus last night too... wish I knew you were there. Oh well. I guess since we are "neighbors" I can see you some other time. =)
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