Saturday, February 16, 2008

Our Story

In honor of Valentines Day Kecia invited those who wanted to post the story of how we met our husbands, dated and got married. Usually when people ask how Charlie and I met I tell them we met in rehab. and they just stare at me like I'm an idiot. Then I met a couple who actually did meet in rehab. so I quit joking like that. That is not where I met Charlie. Neither one of us have ever been in rehab. (Although I need a 12 step program to help with my addiction to bread!) Sometimes I try too hard to be funny. Anyway.....here's the real story.

Many, many moons ago, when I weighed about 50 lbs. less than I do now and had only colored my hair once, I was a student at Ouachita Baptist University in Arkadelphia, Arkansas (say that 5 times fast!) So was my husband. Our freshmen year I actually "twirped" Charlie (translation for non-Ouachitonians: I asked him on a date during our Sadie Hawkins week) but he turned me down. I think he had to wash his hair that night.

Fast forward to the end of our sophomore year. I hung out every day with a great group of girls. And everyday at noon we would attend a 15 min. worship service held in the chapel on campus. Round about late February or early March of that year I noticed that Charlie was starting to sit with my group of friends, everyday. I immediately thought he had his eye on Kecia. They had been buddies for quite awhile, even sharing morning conversations over bowls of Cap'n Crunch at Walts. I probably was feeling sorry for him because I knew that Kecia was smitten with M*** ***** . Or was it M*** ******* or was it E*** *******? Anway, I knew she was not interested, and I wondered why he was showing up on our pew everyday and even joining us for lunch.

I was a little slow. It took awhile for me to figure out that he liked ME! When I actually started talking to him I realized that he was extremely kind and listened, actually listened to me. He was interested in everything I had to say. That was attractive to me.

Finally on March 29 of that year Charlie decided it was time to ask me out. But he was nervous. The whole fear of rejection thing, I guess. As he was contemplating whether to call me and ask me to go with him that evening to a campus movie, there was a knock on his door. He lived right across the hall from the vending machine in their dorm. One of the international students, being unfamiliar with vending machines, was having trouble getting his package of Doritos to fall down and needed help.

It was at this point that Charlie made a wager with the Lord. He threw out the fleece. "Lord," he prayed, "if the Doritos fall, I will call Angie. If they remain stuck I won't call."

One smack against the side of the vending machine and that bag of Doritos fell - in slow motion I'm sure. That was it. He had promised the Lord. He had to call!

So he called me and invited me to a 50 cent campus movie. The rest is history. We became inseparable at that point. Every waking hour not sleeping in our respective dorms was spent walking around campus, studying in the library or driving the streets of the bustling metropolis of Arkadelphia.

Then the summer brought a time of separation - I was a summer missionary in south-east Alaska and he was a summer youth minister at a church in Arkansas. Many dimes and nickels were spent that summer buying stamps. I still have all the letters he sent me. The separation proved only to strengthen our love! Alas, not even a month after our return to school that fall he proposed.

Fast forward........because this is already boring........we had a LONG engagement - two flippin years......then on August 12, 1989 we tied the knot - in the very chapel where I first noticed that he was interested in me. That means we've been hitched for 18 1/2 years.

So here we are, - heavier, older, hopefully wiser, and with 4 kids! And very happy.

So there's our story. Happy Belated Valentine's Day!

6 comments:

Kecia said...

Oh, I love it! These stories just make me smile. Even your bringing up my past stupidity! I vividly remember you whispering to me in my bunk at the BSU retreat that Charlie had proposed. There's not much better than 2 of your best friends marrying each other. Love you both!

mer@lifeat7000feet said...

LOVE the story! I wonder how many people have such good memories of meeting the love of their life at OBU. I'm sure it's more than we can count!

Okay...totally cracks me up to think about TWIRP week, and Charlie turning you down. Have you ever let him forget that??

And I've been sitting here WAY too long trying to figure out who Kecia was smitten with, but I kinda think I got the E*** one figured out. Especially if the first letter of his last name begins with R. He was so stinkin' cute. And do you remember that he was from where we live now? I'll have to tell you what I know about him sometime.

Two flippin' years of being engaged, huh? I thought that might be a subtle reference to the freshmen women dormitories, but now I think you were just trying to stress that it was a LONG two years.

Must go get ready...we're going on our Valentine's date in a little while. So excited about that. And we're just a year behind you. We've been married 17.5 years.

Cara Beth said...

I just cried. Because I remember ya'll sitting on our fireplace wearing big ugly OBU sweatshirts (back then though, they were cool) and you told us you were going to get married! The thing I didn't understand was why you and I weren't going to be sleeping in the same bed anymore.

Fast forward....I remember walking down the aisle as a flower girl in your wedding and I remember that I was so happy that I was able to sit down during the ceremony and Charlie's sister, Alex, had to stand the whole time! haha.

OH, I love ya'll so much! I can't wait til lil Abby walks down the aisle at MY wedding!

Dee Dee said...

Just reading this...haven't been blogging in a while. What a great story! Two years is a flippin' long engagement. Yikes!

I think we're probably going to end up at the May cand. conference so we won't be in VA in April. Are you guys stateside yet? I really want us to hook up!

Holly said...

I bet you totally love Doritos now, don't you?

What a wonderful and fun story. Charlie is a smart man!

Have a wonderful week, Angie!
Love,
holly

April said...

Angie,

That was such a sweet story. It's fun to grow up with the man you love, isn't it? And I laughed at the part about the couple being in rehab...oooops.