Chase Me to the Aisle

Once upon a time, in a small town in Alabama, a boy and a girl started kindergarten. The boy had dark hair and dark eyes and played a lot of Ninja Turtles. He also needed help from the teacher after lunch because he was plagued by daily nose bleeds.  The girl sported the very popular Dorothy Hamill haircut and talked so much she had to sit next to the teacher. At recess, the boys would #chase the girls around the slide and monkey rings. And yes the dark haired boy did #chase the girl in this school yard game. The girl only noticed cute, blond boys so her memory of the boy ends here; her taste in looks doesn’t change until high school when she realizes she can be the only blond in the relationship.  Maybe God knew what he was doing, but the boy was sent to another school for first grade, and when they would have attended middle school together the boy went to a local private school. The two should have attended the same high school, but the girl moved to Mississippi; despite sharing some common friends the two never crossed paths.

Graduation happened and the time to choose a college was at hand. The girl chose the school that provided the most scholarship; the boy chose a school that best fit his career calling. Here is where God intervenes… the boy and girl end up at the same college. Not only that, they end up sitting next to each other in one of the first classes of freshmen year. But, the timing wasn’t right… some maturing needed to happen. The girl had a long term boyfriend at the time, and her eyes were only for him. The girl has a unique mark, something that is visible and to her advantage (or curse) it makes her very unforgettable. The boy recognized her. “Hey, I think I know you from somewhere…” he said. “No I don’t think so.” The boy goes home and happens to have his kindergarten yearbook. He flips to his class and there she is. He returns the next day and says “I do know you we had the same kindergarten teacher” and then a light bulb goes off “you were the boy who had nose bleeds” she says and he counters the remark with “yeah, and you couldn’t say your r’s “(that’s true she struggled with r’s, t’s and th’s something no one would ever know today).

The two were cordial to each other and often chatted at lunch, but the girl kept the long term boyfriend through freshmen year and half of sophomore year before parting ways. Always one to #chase she made the first move by telling the boy that she was single. The boy almost blew it by saying “so are you expecting me to take you out?” But he was curious and the girl was playing the field so the two had a first date at TGI Fridays. The service was awful and dinner took forever. The girl ended up eating half of his food since hers was so slow to come out… but he didn’t really mind. Eventually the two would officially start dating for the next year.

The boy didn’t think he’d be so in love with the girl, so it was only a matter of time before he needed to have a talk with her daddy. One day, as the boy and her daddy hit golf balls towards the field the boy asked if he could marry the girl. The daddy told the boy “only if the girl wants to”. The boy took his mom and together they went ring shopping, and then the boy waited for the perfect time. Come June the boy decided he was ready to ask… he worked with the girl’s family to come up with the best scenario. He was going to do it with a giant cookie cake when she got home from work. But… summer thunderstorms are daily occurrences in Alabama, and since the girl worked outside at Lowes she came home early.

The girl showers and walks into the kitchen where her sister says “the dog had an accident in your room” confused as to why the sister didn’t clean it up the girl walks into her room to find nothing (she also didn’t notice the music or TV blaring). Walking back to the kitchen she says “where?” her sister’s eyes are big as she says “ummm, it’s on your bed.” Furious, the girl says “What?? Why didn’t anyone clean it up” as she stomps into her room to find a box. She opens it and the “Will You Marry Me?”  cookie shocks her and she immediately looks for a ring (yes the girl was a bit shallow). Then the boy comes out of the [her] closet and gives her the ring. What the girl didn’t notice in her search for dog poop on the bed was that the boy had put her favorite song on the stereo and her favorite movie was playing on the TV. A sweet gesture, but the girl was oblivious to those details and had to have it explained (a trend that will forever continue).

Finally, the day arrives and in front of family and friends in a small island church the boy and girl say “I do” to a lifetime together. In good times and bad, sickness and health, richer and poorer, they have seen it all, and it’s only been 14 years. Yes, 14 years that the boy and girl have loved each other and explored new places and had amazing adventures and spent several bills for fancy dinners. And even now the boy still has to #chase the girl because she isn’t one to slow down or miss out on life’s journey. But #chaseher he does and will do forever. So, whenever you #chaseme you will always find my best decision #chasing next to me… 

Happy 14^th Anniversary Muscle Matt (@swolesocietymat ) you’re my favorite person to #chase