How I Met Your Father

Kids, I want to tell you the story about how your father and I met. You've probably been watching us for years now, picking up little bits and pieces of our story and you might have some questions. Or maybe you just imagine that we've always been together since the beginning of time and that's that. :) Whichever it is, I think that you might benefit from hearing our story because I do believe it is an excellent road map for love and life.
It turns out that over our growing up years, your dad and I actually had many near meetings. We were born in the same hospital, two years apart. He's older than I am (and I don't let him forget that). We were raised in the same town, Eureka, Ca. We both attended the same elementary school (for one year), the same jr. high school (for one year), and the same high school, but our paths did not cross until...well, my earliest memory of your dad was when I was a sophomore and he was a junior and we actually had the same Biology class. That teacher was so lame! He actually had us coloring pictures in HIGH SCHOOL Biology! But whatever! We didn't really meet until the following year...
I was singing in the school choir and at the time another group called Mixed Ensemble (which at that time wasn't so mixed because we just happened to end up a whole bunch of girls that year!) and somehow I invited your dad to come & see our Christmas concert. He was so cute back then you guys...he actually had a PERM back then--thick, curly dark hair...and whatever he says, and he will hotly deny it, but he had a MULLET too! He drove a white Mustang with red interior. And I think he had a mustache since he was like ten years old or something funny like that. I remembering him being a very "nice guy". One of those "nice guys" that no one really takes notice of, ya know? I thought, why not invite him to the concert for fun? And he actually showed up. And then, the very next morning, he actually arrived at my house with a big ol' bouquet of mini carnations! Just because. Because he was that kinda guy--a nice guy.
Well, right away, your Grammie was QUITE impressed. She was saying things like, "Kiki, you need to ask him out! He's SUCH a gentleman!" And of course, I was opposed to anything my mom would have to say! (Like a good teenager! Ha!) "Oh no, mom...he's not my type. He's just a friend. Besides, he talks kinda slow....", I said. Ha! It's true. I actually said that. I'm so weird sometimes.
So, kids, listen to this next part, because it really shows how God sets things up, and usually without any effort on our own part, and mostly DESPITE our own best efforts...for our own benefit.
The next month was the upcoming Junior Prom. I had had a date planned for over a month with this other boy who was a friend of mine. I had purchased the tickets and even pre-paid for the picture package and had a dress already. I was really looking forward to a fun night. Well, over the Christmas break, my friend found himself a girlfriend who went to another school. And she flat out told him that there was NO WAY he was going to go to a prom with some other girl! Looking back, I guess this was an understandable thing. However, it left me high and dry, just a few weeks away from the prom with no date. I was so bummed! But I wasn't going to let it stop me.
In typical high-school-girl fashion, I knew I wanted to invite your dad, but I was too shy to come right out and ASK him myself. So I had a friend call him instead. Again, I am such a dork! :) So he calls me up and basically asks, "So what's this I hear about you wanting to go to the prom with me?" And so it was set. We'd go to the Junior Prom together. It was January 25th, 1992. The theme of the prom was "Romance & Roses".
We went out in his white Mustang to dinner at OH's Townhouse. It was a great little old steakhouse in town that is now closed, unfortunately. They needed a remodel for like a zillion years, but you could still always get good service. Anyway, there we sat in their dark interior, next to red velvet wall paper, eating fried prawns and drinking a roy rogers (your dad) and a shirley temple (me). It was fun. Then we went to the prom. It was at the Adorni Center. (Where Thomas has had basketball practice!) I remember having a good time at that prom, dancing and being silly together. And I looked good in my purple dress! I don't think I'll ever let Norah out of the house in a dress like that though...what was my mom thinking??? :)
Anyway, after the prom, we decided to go out to the beach for a moonlight walk...We went out to the Samoa Peninsula and watched the waves crashing. It was cold, so your dad let me wear his tuxedo jacket. And to this day, he will deny this too!!--but he was the one who kissed me FIRST. He swears I kissed, him, but don't listen to him. I am your mother and I tell you the truth. ;)
We had a wonderful first date and have been together ever since. I was just sixteen years old and he was just 18. In all, we went to four proms together before we were both out of high school. Every thing was a special occasion, I guess. I know you guys are maybe a bit wondering how it was that we found each other so young and how it worked out because some people will tell you that's "too young". Perhaps for some people it is. Because at that age, you really don't know who you are yourself, much less how to relate and connect with another person very well. This is another example of how God works things out for our own good.
Shortly after our first date, I was out in the backyard at home, desperately trying and failing to mow our awful jungle of a lawn, that was pitted with ditches and holes, with a push mower of all things!! (Maybe I'll have to look one up on the Internet to show you what this is. You might not have a clue.) But it was a worthless hunk of junk and I was getting nowhere. It was frustrating work and I was feeling so upset and not a little unlike Cinderella because I had a lot of chores to do and life was just really tough for me at that time. I was practically in tears over this mowing fiasco. And then comes your dad. My Knight in Shining Armor. My Prince. He just happened to stop by to say hello and he found me bedraggled and upset and and about to lose my mind over this push mower. And he saved me. He took over. He pushed that contraption and made it work and he mowed that huge mess of a yard for me! He stepped in and he rescued me. He soothed me. And he made it all better.

And he's been doing that ever since, kids. He's never stopped.

And the main thing has been that it's not WHAT he does, but WHY. It's because he's a gentleman. It's because he loves. It's because sometimes being a man means you have to step up and do the hard work. You do the right thing. You take care of those you love.

And that's how my heart knew at even just sixteen years old, that he was a SAFE PLACE for me to land. Here's the man that honored his parents, who worked hard at his job, who was a good student, who brought be flowers "just because", who opened my car door, who rescued me from that jungle lawn. And all because that was just the nature of his character.

My Gramma, your Great-Gramma, asked me once in those early months if your dad was a Christian or not. I said, "I don't know yet Gramma, but you know what? He's the most Christ-like person I have ever met." And it's true. He loved me like Christ loves the Church. And that's exactly what the Bible says a husband should love like. And your father has demonstrated his love for both me and for the Lord every day since.

We dated for two years before he proposed to me on my 18th birthday. He'd actually taken the time to ask Grandpa for my hand in marriage. And let this little tid-bit go down in family history--your Grandpa actually tried to TALK HIM OUT OF IT! Ha! :) Yea, he said something to the effect of, "Are you sure??? Because she's a really strong-willed girl..." Thanks, DAD. ;)

I remember the day your dad proposed. I just KNEW that he was going to ask me to marry him, and I was excited and was happy...and really, really nervous. So nervous that I kept stalling. Kept coming up with things to delay him asking. I kept getting up from dinner and going to the ladies room, etc. Finally, we ended up down at the Amphitheater, right next to the Adorni Center, right back to the "scene of the crime", so to speak. And there he asked me to marry him and I said yes.

Another year went by and then we were married on August 6, 1995. I cried the whole time I said my vows because I always cry when I talk about things that are important to me.

I recently had a conversation with a woman who has been praying to God for a husband for years. She's a very nice lady, but she's tired of having to do everything on her own. She knows that God is providing everything she needs, and she is joyful in her process of waiting for the man God has for her. But she knows how wonderful it would be to have a partner in life. And I totally knew what she meant. I take great comfort in the fact that I get to live life under the provision and protection of your father. I can rest in the fact that we are a team. That your dad can take care of the "hard stuff" that I cannot, and I can take care of the little details that he can't. We compliment one another. I can't imagine what life would be like without him. I love that I have a best friend to share things with. That we're two very different people, and yet we seem to share the same basic temperament and values. We may not always agree on things and we may often drive each other nuts, but we know that together, we are home. We are family.

I hope my children, that when you look back on what you've seen us model for you that you can see some good stuff that you will want to take into your own lives. I hope you can see in your dad a man that loves his wife and I hope that you see in me a woman that respects her husband. I pray that the tapestry we have woven for you is solid so that you can spring from it in confidence, knowing what real love actually looks like. We are hopelessly imperfect, and I pray that grace covers all of our many mistakes. I hope that you take what you've seen and hold it up for a standard in what you want in your own lives. I hope that you are loved as much as I have been loved by your father. Just know that we will always look at you both and see the very best of ourselves.