Once Upon a Time...

Three years ago today, a boy and a girl went on their first date. They were both very nervous.


She picked him up from his place and they drove to Alki Beach in the West Seattle area of Seattle. Did I mention they were both nervous? The more nervous people are, the more they tend to like the other person. And they were very nervous.

After parking the car, they walked up and down the street, talking and laughing, trying to decide what to eat for dinner. They finally settled on chowder from Spud. The girl insisted on paying for herself, which probably made the boy worry a little, but he had nothing to worry about. She was planning on sticking around.

They left Spud, crossed the street to the beach, sat on the pebble-coated sand, and leaned against a large log together. They opened up their chowder and conversation continued. The girl pretended not to notice that the boy could hardly eat. He was very, very nervous. She finished her meal in no time (nerves will never get in the way of hunger for this girl), and the boy put his away, saying he would save it for later, that he "wasn't very hungry."

Once the sun set, they went to his apartment and stayed up talking until five in the morning, and watching Weird Science (a really terrible movie from the '80s), but not paying attention to the movie at all because they were both freaked out as to what to do next. When the girl finally had to leave, the boy walked her to her car. She only gave him a hug because she was worried the chowder might have put on a show if she tried to kiss him.

Next time, she promised herself.


That "next time" has turned into a lifetime. That boy has stuck by this girl through it all - a year and a half of long-distance (including five months in India), living with her parents (yikes), and the hardest of all, cancer (my dad still thanks him for not "heading to the hills" after my diagnosis). The Boyfriend and I plan on recreating our first date tonight by going to Alki to get chowder and, if it's not raining, sitting on the beach until the sun sets. We'll probably nix the Weird Science, though. It's just too terrible of a movie.

*swoon*
Paige