Friday, March 18, 2011

Growing up is Hard

     As previously mentioned in one of my other blogs, I dated my fair share of frogs before I found my prince charming.  Well, they weren't all frogs I guess.....some were nice, I will admit, but anyways......they weren't the missing piece to my puzzle so onwards and upwards!
                                                  Jon playing a piano in the groom's room
                                    

     I did not date a lot in high school.  I think I had two serious boyfriends and one casual boyfriend and did not really date a lot in between those boyfriends.  All I can say about those relationships is that it was a long time ago, in another time, another place and the Lord works in mysterious ways.  My heart was broken several times and apparently I broke one too, but who's counting?  The honest truth is I don't like to think about that time a whole lot.  High school was a traumatic, tumultuous time for me.  Every, single time I meet a young girl broken-hearted and convinced that "he's the one who got away" I just want to pick her up and hold her and tell her it's all going to be okay and that eventually she will see the light.  I am so thankful that I did not settle.  Thankful that my "steering" could not alter the plans God had planned for me because trust me, when I sit down and look into that crystal ball and see what could have been...........my oh my, I am so thankful for the way things turned out.  I won't go into the details that I see of things that might have been but let's just say it isn't really me and I would probably be miserable.
      So I took one of those high school boyfriends to college with me.  Actually I went to Miami University and he chose to go to the University of Massachusetts at Amherst and then transferred to Miami U.   Can I just tell you that we filled out the transfer papers together for him to come to Miami.  I was working in the University mail room at the time and I actually hand delivered his transfer papers.  We even got him a room in my dorm!!  Thirty days after he arrived at Miami he did not meet me after class one day to walk back to the dorm.  I found him though walking home with a friend, in my mind, "too cool to wait for your girlfriend."  Later that night after dinner at the dining hall across the street I jumped in front of him on the sidewalk and screamed, "what is your problem?!"  He basically told me he no longer loved me, point blank.  I threw up, a lot.  I cried, a lot.  It was dramatic and went on and on for months, up and down and around and around.  I won't go into the details because I said I wouldn't display another person in such a light as to make them look poorly at the start of my blog.  But I will tell you this, as I say to every young girl I meet who is broken hearted; it's like climbing a mountain when you're trying to get over someone.  You climb up a little and you fall back down a little, you go up and you go down until finally, one day you reach the peak and climb down on the other side!!  And you will know when you reach that point, you will know even if you haven't been thinking about the process.  It's like you suddenly breathe for the first time!
     Okay, on to more humorous stories.  So after I got over this hurdle of mine let me tell you, I shot off like a loose cannon and never looked back!  One time in college, I had two dates in one day, and I saw my ex boyfriend that day too......dangerous!  Playing with fire!!  One of them was a really nice guy, Matt, we went to play frisbee golf because Matt was like that.  He was just in summer school at Miami doing some sort of sciency internship.  He actually went to a school that I think was about 45 away from Pittsburgh.  A "church school" (that's what I called it).  So as you can imagine, we went on a date in broad daylight, out in the open where everyone could see us, where we weren't left alone to the temptations young people have!
     Sidenote:  I am being sarcastic here.  As I said in the beginning we won't always agree.  I accept that some of you won't find this funny and that some of you would agree with Matt's ways of dating and that's OKAY; it just never worked for me.

     Anyways, so I went on this date with Matt and we played frisbee golf and then he went to study........and I went to get ready for my next date, ha!  Next date, Jake.  Jake and I were in a class together and had worked on a project together.  Jake and I had planned to play tennis for our date.  Yes, I was getting quite a bit of exercise that day. Difference with date #2 of the day?  When I showed up to play tennis with this guy he had brought all of this beer with him, including my favorite.  Hmmmm tennis and beer?   Yeah, no.  I think I drank about one to be polite, I mean, seriously!!!  I might not be straight and narrow but I'm not like that and I am smarter than to let you get me drunk in the hot, blazing sun while we play tennis!  After a little tennis we went to dinner.  I pulled the flag when he ordered a large beer with dinner (underage) and asked me could I drive his car back to school.  I didn't mind underage drinking and I did my fair share, but not with a fake i.d. in public and not on a date!!  As if!!  So that was that.
     After summer school I had a few weeks before Fall semester started.  At this point my parents were living in Pittsburgh, PA and I was FORCED to go there and spend a few weeks.  Matt (from one of the paragraphs above) and I agreed to a date one night.  I was feeling pretty good about this, I mean, yeah we had gone on that straight and narrow date but after Jake I thought, I think I will stay with the straight and narrow!  I hadn't seen any happy-mediums out there.  So Matt drove down to Pittsburgh one night from his "church school" (his parents also lived nearby the school) and we went downtown and ate and road this trolley thing way up on a mountain that overlooks the city.  I know, you're thinking, how romantic.  Let me tell you, it was not.  I hate heights and I did not especially care for the trolley ride.  We got to the top and it was still not romantic.  Cue me thinking: "could you please stand next to me Matt, maybe put your arm around me, reassure me it's okay." 
    **** I am going to tell the rest in the next blog, as you know, I tend to be long winded!****