We met when I was 14 and he was 15 when my brother brought him to a church event. We started dating that summer. We were each other's first kisses, outside of our friend's house at the pool. We went to my first high school dance together. I still remember a lot from that night. And thankfully we still have the pictures to look back on and laugh at. A few months later, we broke up.
Even though we went to two different schools, we still kept in touch over the years. He even got a job as a manager at the local movie theater and always tried to get me in for free, but I tried to play hard to get...how silly of my.
When I was a senior in high school, he called me up and asked me out for dinner. Despite the fact we were both dating someone else at the time, I agreed and met up with him. I remember which restaurant we went to and even what table we sat at, but nothing else was too memorable. I thought we were just there to catch up that night. However, it wasn't until right before we left when he dropped the bomb (so to speak...). That was the night he told me he joined the Army. He left for boot camp the very next day.
We kept in touch a little bit. I still have some of the letters he sent to me. I even got a phone call every now and then in between boot camp and getting fully acquainted with his new military lifestyle...all while dating that other girl.
In the summer after my freshman year in college, when I was home from school, I got a message that he had been in an accident while overseas. He had gone blind and was being flown to Germany in order to get better medical care. I was heartbroken. I could barely get out the words to tell my mom as I was sobbing on her shoulder. I doubt I slept that night, constantly waiting to hear more news. Eventually I was told it was only one eye that lost all sight and he could see a fair amount of the other eye, so at least that was encouraging.
A little while later, he was able to get on Instant Messenger while still in the hospital in Germany. He was angry, I was scared, and we got into a fight. Neither one of us knew how to handle the situation. We were too young to deal with something like that.
We went months without talking. Every now and then, he would try to contact me, and I would blow him off. We were not on good terms. I was hurt and he was spiraling down.
It wasn't until he was home after his next deployment that I decided to answer a text message from him. He was home on leave, I was home for summer break. He asked me to meet up to watch a movie, and we have been together ever since!
We recently got engaged and are looking forward to starting our lives together. It has been a long time coming. Who knew that little boy I went to my first dance with would be my future husband?
