-Flashback to September 2008-
I was 16 years old, single, and a sophomore in High School. Now, I was a shy, simple girl who loved one thing, and one thing only. Music. I played for 2 of my High School's orchestras. Their Symphony Orchestra, and their Strolling Strings group Rhapsody. I spent the majority of my time in the orchestra room practicing and, essentially, isolating myself from my peers. Our Orchestra conductor one day, told us to play in front of people. That it would build up our confidence in playing. So I did. I went out to the courtyard with my violin and played whatever music my heart so desired.
Much to my surprise, it was well received. My peers would come by and listen and hang out while I played, and would sometimes make requests. It became so much fun. There was one boy in particular that never made a request, but would walk over and listen for a few minutes every day.
No. This is not where we started talking and fell in love. This is where we first saw each other. I was much too shy to talk to someone I didn't know. That's what my music did for me. But he would listen almost every day and leave when the bell rang. We didn't speak a single word to each other.
-Fast Forward to June 2010-
I was now 18, graduated from high school, and preparing for my first semester of college. One night, after a long day of 115 degree weather in Arizona, I was scrolling through Facebook, seeing all these people out partying and having a blast. I wanted to be out doing something, but didn't have those kinds of friends. So I made myself content with sitting at my desk, looking at funny pictures and reading sentiments of graduation... When something remarkable happened. An errant friend request.
His name was Trent and he looked familiar... But if there is one thing any of you should know about me. I am absolutely terrible at remembering which name belongs to which face. So I came up with an idea to help with that. I opened his profile and sent him the following message:
"I apologize, but I do not recognize who you are. That could very well be my fault, as I am bad with the whole names to faces thing. Please tell me how I know you within two days or your request will be denied."
Smooth... huh? (Goodness I was such a weird teenager....) I figured that I wouldn't hear anything that night and went back to my previous activities of trolling through Facebook. Maybe a half hour later, I got a message back from this Trent character and all it said was the following:
"Are you the girl that played the violin in the courtyard?"
*Now this, ladies and gentlepeeps, is the smoothest intro on the face of the planet. Boys, take note. If you remember something that the girl you are interested in did a while ago.... You have captured our attention. *
You can bet your sweet muffins that we talked after that smooth introduction, and boy, did we talk. Non stop talking. And here is what I found out:
"I apologize, but I do not recognize who you are. That could very well be my fault, as I am bad with the whole names to faces thing. Please tell me how I know you within two days or your request will be denied."
Smooth... huh? (Goodness I was such a weird teenager....) I figured that I wouldn't hear anything that night and went back to my previous activities of trolling through Facebook. Maybe a half hour later, I got a message back from this Trent character and all it said was the following:
"Are you the girl that played the violin in the courtyard?"
*Now this, ladies and gentlepeeps, is the smoothest intro on the face of the planet. Boys, take note. If you remember something that the girl you are interested in did a while ago.... You have captured our attention. *
You can bet your sweet muffins that we talked after that smooth introduction, and boy, did we talk. Non stop talking. And here is what I found out:
- I love country music, he loves heavy metal music
- I love spicy foods, he hates anything spicy
- I love being outdoors, he loves being inside playing video games
- I love being spontaneous, he loves planning
- I love any reason to celebrate, he is (still) learning to celebrate things
- I love color, he is learning to love color.
I can continue on like that for a while... but I will stop it there. As you can see, we are polar opposites. But no matter what, we couldn't stop talking to each other. A simple text message or facebook message filled me with joy and happiness.
That summer, he was sent on a training cruise with the Navy. During that time, we emailed every chance we had. We grew closer and closer. At one point, he told me that he wished that I could be there to pick him up from the airport when he came home. I told him that I wouldn't be able to, but that we would have to make plans to meet up.
A mutual friend of ours realized that we were talking, and managed to get me out to Tucson Airport on the day that he was to come home. I was so nervous, and managed to convince him that I was at home. He was irritated and short with me when, on top of me not being there, his flight was delayed by 3 hours.
Finally, at 2 am, in a virtually empty airport, (except for like, a janitor and a security guard), I saw him walk down the stairs. Wearing a pair of too big jeans, baggy gray t-shirt, and a pair of beat up sneakers. His blue eyes looked for our friend. But she was hiding behind a pillar filming this because she was convinced that he would see me and freak out.
But he didn't. He looked right past me and searched for our friend. He actually found her before he saw me. But when he finally looked at me, and his brain made the connection. He dropped his luggage, hands went over his mouth, and after an "Oh my God" moment, he hugged me.
It was at that moment in time, when his arms wrapped around me, and my head rested against his chest. That moment when my good ear was pressed against his chest, hearing his heart beat, and his deep voice say, "You're here...". I knew that I loved him. I wouldn't have the word formed just yet, but we fell in love.
2 1/2 years later, he proposed, and 9 months later, we were married on May 21, 2013.
A mutual friend of ours realized that we were talking, and managed to get me out to Tucson Airport on the day that he was to come home. I was so nervous, and managed to convince him that I was at home. He was irritated and short with me when, on top of me not being there, his flight was delayed by 3 hours.
Finally, at 2 am, in a virtually empty airport, (except for like, a janitor and a security guard), I saw him walk down the stairs. Wearing a pair of too big jeans, baggy gray t-shirt, and a pair of beat up sneakers. His blue eyes looked for our friend. But she was hiding behind a pillar filming this because she was convinced that he would see me and freak out.
But he didn't. He looked right past me and searched for our friend. He actually found her before he saw me. But when he finally looked at me, and his brain made the connection. He dropped his luggage, hands went over his mouth, and after an "Oh my God" moment, he hugged me.
It was at that moment in time, when his arms wrapped around me, and my head rested against his chest. That moment when my good ear was pressed against his chest, hearing his heart beat, and his deep voice say, "You're here...". I knew that I loved him. I wouldn't have the word formed just yet, but we fell in love.
2 1/2 years later, he proposed, and 9 months later, we were married on May 21, 2013.
The above photo was on our wedding day, the photo below was on our one year anniversary.
And that is the story on how I fell in love. :)
-Haley
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