When Mike and I were about 14 years old, we went to a mormon dance one lovely Saturday night. I saw him hanging out with some of his friends, and not knowing who he was, my first thought was "Wow, that boy is really cute and I want to be his girlfriend!" Of course, I was only 14, so I couldn't really have a boyfriend, but I was hoping that someday he would be mine.
Mike told me that he first noticed me also at that dance. He said that he saw me and thought I had a really pretty face, so he asked me to dance.
We kept seeing each other at dances and other church functions, but never really did anything about our 'crushes'. This went on for probably 3 years.
In 2006, there was a church dinner and dance that was put on for just the older youth ages 16-18, but this took place about 40 minutes away from our home town. Because it was so far away, not a lot of youth that Mike and I knew showed up, so we decided to hang out and talk through the whole thing, just the two of us. We were together that whole night, not dancing with anyone else but each other. By that time, I really wanted to be his girlfriend.
So at the end of this wonderful evening, we exchanged phone numbers and ended up talking on the phone a lot and started hanging out NOT at church functions! We played a ton, and eventually we started to feel this connection towards each other. During the beginning of our senior year, the talk of Homecoming came up, so I asked him if he wanted to go to my school's homecoming dance with me, and he accepted.
Our first official date was my school's homecoming football game. As we were finding our seats, all my friends were asking me if Mike was my new boyfriend. And before I had a chance to answer, he boldy replied "YEP!" with a huge smile on his face. I didn't really know how to react to that, so I just let it be. The dance was the following night, and it was really fun. We had dinner at my friend's house, and then we shook our groove thang all evening. When we got back to my house later, he changed back into his regular clothes because he had to ride his motorcycle back home and didn't want to ride 1/2 in a suit. So when we were at my front door ready to say goodbye, we hugged, and then he leaned in for me to kiss his cheek. I wasn't thrilled that he was giving me his cheek, but I thought I'd go for it. As I was going for the cheek, to my surprise he turned his head and his lips met mine :) I was so happy to be kissing his lips after such an amazing night, and not his cheek. After that short kiss, he said goodnight and left.
We continued to be a happy and silly couple for the rest of senior year. We went to most of the school dances together, and we hung out at each others houses a lot. Although we lived half an hour away from each other and we both did stuff after school and in the evenings, we saw each other on the weekends and talked on the phone a lot and that was good enough for us. In July of 2007 we broke up because I was leaving for college in a few months, and he wanted to date other girls. It broke my heart because I had fallen in love with him, but I understood. I moved to Utah to live with my grandparents for a few months before I had to leave for school, and he dated around and went to a community college for a semester.
Mike left on his mission to Louisville, Kentucky in March 2008 and I didn't get to say goodbye. I was focusing on my education at the time. But in September that same year, I really started to miss him so I decided to call up his mother and ask for his mailing address so I could write him a letter. I wrote him not expecting for a reply because I knew that missionaries are really busy, but I was grateful to get a reply from him a few weeks later. We continuted to write letters to each other for the rest of his mission and I fell in love with him all over again through them.
When he came home on March 31, 2010, I was ecstatic. I couldn't believe that the time had finally come for me to see MY missionary after over 2 VERY long years. That was the longest 2 years of my life! But when his mom and I were discussing when he would be arriving, she told me that it'll be late in the evening and I probably won't be able to see him until the next day. I was a little sad, but very understanding so I accepted that I would see him on April 1. However, on the night of the 31st, I was playing cards with my sisters and I kept glancing over my shoulder, expecting to see a car pull in my driveway with Mike in it. I knew that he wouldn't be coming, but for some reason I just kept looking out the window. After a while, I gave up looking because I knew there was no hope. But I just had to glace just ONE more time, and when I did, there was a car pulling in. I jumped out of my chair and ran around the room frantically because I didn't know what to do! I kept saying "This isn't real! That's not really Mike, is it???" But who else would it have been? It was like 9:30 at night and no one comes to our house that late on a Wednesday. So after I took some deep breaths, I heard a soft knock on the front door and I opened it up to see the most handsome man in a white shirt and tie with a big grin on his face. I said "HI!!!" and gave him a giant hug. I never wanted to let go! He could only be at my house for enough time so say hi to everyone and then leave again because his parents were waiting in the car. It was torture!! I didn't want him to leave my arms ever again.
The next day I called him up and invited him to come over to my house. He came and we played Phase 10 and then we went to my friend Kiah's house to watch a movie and so he could meet some of my friends. I was prepared for him to be an awkward returned missionary, but he wasn't. He was back to his normal self and I loved it. At Kiah's house, he was being very flirty with me and it was just like he had never left. We were in love all over again.
Since then, we've seen each other at least three times a week, and we've been through a lot more now. We even got in a horrible car accident and rode in the ambulance side by side. We're being more financially responsible, which is tough for me, but I'm getting a lot better. And I love that I can call him about anything, and he'll talk it through with me. He's my best friend and I get to be with him for time and all eternity.
Sorry this post is crazy long, but I wanted to let people know our history.
