Meant to Be

Strange things happen in life; things that we cannot necessarily explain. One of those things is love. I look at couples all of the time and wonder, "How in the heck did they end up together?" Others, you can just see it. I am quite sure that I fall into the category of "How in the heck" since there are many days that I feel like this. The only answer that I have is that it was meant to be. It works, and I do love him.

Now, for the record, I would like everyone to note that I had just come off a month long restriction. I could not go out or talk on the phone. I was desperate (not really, but that's my story and I'm sticking to it). Being cooped up at home when you are 16 can wreak havoc on your mentality.

Proof that my brain was not working:

• I allowed a guy to hit on me with my mom within 10 feet of us.
• We were at a dollar store to pick up balloons for my little sister's 7^th birthday.
• I accepted the cheesiest pickup line, "You have nice legs."
• Really dude? Um, thanks.
• I gave him my phone number?!
• Wait, what just happened? Did he really just rip off a piece of cardboard to write down my number?
• What the heck am I thinking? I've never even seen this guy before?!

Stay with me now, this was before the cell phones of today (my mom had a bag phone in her car) and we did not have Caller ID at my house. I was not allowed to have a pager (like everyone else) because my mother liked to screen all of our calls. Literally, she sat in a recliner, right beside the phone, and no one was allowed to answer the phone until the person 'talked' to the answering machine. This was our caller ID, because at this point you could just let them leave a message or you could answer the phone. For the record, I hated this system.

To put this in perspective I'm waiting on this guy to call me (really, I just admitted that) yet terrified of what in the heck I am going to tell my mother when he does call. Oh, I forgot to mention that no one was allowed to call after 9pm either, and have I mentioned that I know nothing about this guy nor have had a conversation with him so he does not know this. So, you probably guessed it, he called. Guess what, it was 930pm (when he got off work) and I had no story to tell my mom. Oops! I answered the phone anyway, so I could tell him not to call so late, of course. Then I told my mom that it was a guy I met. No details, but not really a lie either.

Well, the next few days we talked on the phone when I got home from school (Mom was a teacher, so she wasn't home yet). I realized that this guy was 18 and in college. Uh oh! I just turned 16 and I am a sophomore in high school. When he called, there was always a crowd of people at his house, which usually included girls. Really?! How rude!

He did not call for a while, so I thought that was the end of it. Out of the blue he called and just asked me to be his girlfriend (yes, cheesy again). Weird thing was, I said yes. What the heck?!

Now, of course, he wants to go out. That means I have to tell my mom. Ugh! She did not tell me no, but I did get a long list of rules about not being able to see him every day, not going out all of the time, etc. Deal!

Strange things happen in life; things that we cannot necessarily explain. One of those things is love. I can tell you (almost 14 years later) the number of times that I have not seen him. I can count them on my hands. We have been married for almost 11 years and have two beautiful children. For the record, I pray that my daughter does not fall in love at 16 though.