First Date

Yesterday was the 24th anniversary of my first date with future Sweet Husband. We met in 1983 when I started working at a tiny health club on the 8th floor of a high rise office building in Seattle. Sweet Husband's brother was the program director and he hired me to work part time as an exercise instructor. Sweet husband was also working there part time as an exercise instructor while he attended college. The three of us are blonde and look a little alike, so many of the club's members assumed I was their sister.

About four months after I started working at the club, and after about three months of flirting, future Sweet Husband finally asked me out by writing me a note and leaving it in my empty coffee mug (I think he was too shy to ask me out in person). It took me a day or two to discover the note. In fact, Sweet Husband finally had to tell me to take a look in my cup.

I thought our date was going to be a drive to Mt. Rainier and a leisurely stroll around the national park. Instead, we parked at a ski area and took a strenuous hike to a beautiful lake in the Cascade Mountains. I remember the sunny, August day and how Future Sweet Husband got sunburned (I called him a Red Neck for a few days). I remember a few instances of taking short-cuts off the trail and sliding on my arse through some mud. I remember wondering about this guy who was somehow different then other guys I had known. For one thing, on this date he asked me what my goals were for my future. At the time, my 22-year old self thought the question was rather "nerdy" and I have no idea what I answered.

Twenty-four years later, Sweet Husband is still a little nerdy, but I'm not complaining. I started praying for my future husband when I was around sixteen years old. Even though I did not know who that would be, I prayed that God would be working in his life and creating in him the man that He wanted him to be and the man that he wanted me to be with. God answered that prayer, and today I say, "Thank you!"