I'm from New Hampshire.
She's from Tennessee.
I've got a younger brother.
She's an only sibling.
I was just your average student. A nerdy freckle-faced kid who loved the stage.
Her? A beautiful, smart, intelligent, contemplative, reflective and meditative quiet spirit.
So, how in the world did we come to be, my bride and me?
A lie.
See, I left New England to attend college in the south and dived into the theater
and performing arts department at Trevecca Naz University in Nashville. She knew
OF me simply because of Cyrano De Bergerac and You Can't Take it with You.
However, her friends and my friends, we're friends. So as a JOKE, they thought
it would be funny to match the "nerd turned punk David" with the beautiful-soft
spoken Claire. And as luck would have it (I say Divine Appointment), we fell
for each other.
After my friends let me know "this Claire thinks your something", they set us
up to meet in the snack shop. She thought I liked her and I thought she liked me.
I knew nothing of her but as I ran into the snack shop, this then 90 pound runt dropped
to one knee and kissed her on the hand! It made her laugh. I love her laugh.
Our first "real date" was to this "meat and three" on Murfreesboro Road. As we
sat down, the server brought us our water. I'm very animated. I use my arms and hands
when I speak and when I was trying to impress her with something, my hand hit the
water and it landed strategically all over her gorgeous Pink Silk Angora Cardigan!
It worked. We continued to date for two years. I nearly threw it all away a couple
of times by being a real jerk. I asked her forgiveness without excuse. And I prayed
to God to make me the man I needed to be. I still pray that prayer. I'm still an idiot
at times.
I asked her to marry me in the park. On a swing. In the late spring with the air filled
with Nashville jasmine, magnolia and tulips in full bloom.
On our honeymoon to Northern New Hampshire near Mt. Washington, she had never
seen so much snow in her life. We stopped for a quick sandwich on Christmas Eve in
Bethlehem, NH. Romantic, right? Not so much. She was sick just about all of Christmas.
I suggested we go on an easy cross-country ski adventure. She obliged. We could use
the fresh air. We rented the gear and I took, what I thought, was the easy trail. Nope.
One of the hardest. About 2 hours in, she took off her skis and threw them at me. I made up
for it the next day with a horse drawn sleigh ride through the freshly fallen snow.
This November 25, it will mark 23 years for the two of us. It's not been easy mostly because
of me. But I thank God for the lie that brought the two of us together...........
