A Decade of Love: A Fall to Remember

Since our first date, Justin and I saw each other every day with the exception of like 6 days over the next 10 months. The next day after our first date he interrupted what would have been a boring night of laundry and took me to eat "real Mexican food" at what I thought was a sketchy place in Provo. Did you know real tacos don't have cheese or lettuce? Here was this boy shattering my entire culinary universe and opening my eyes to all sorts of delights like "carnitas," "barbacoa," "asada," "pica de gallo," "horchata". What a sheltered Taco Time/Rosarita life I had been leading.

I had to get used to going to taco shops where I was the only person that didn't speak Spanish. I had to get used to ruining my hair with a motorcycle helmet. I got a glimpse of his football and hunting obsession although a new girlfriend/full semester/full-time job kept it under wraps.

One evening in August we took a motorcycle ride up to Bridal Veil Falls and then onto Sundance. I remember holding his hand, talking, and having the thought, "I am going to marry him." The thought didn't scare me. The fact that it didn't alarm me was strange. It didn't make me giddy either. I don't know if I'd call it a decision, more of a realization. And at this point, I wasn't even in love with him.

I met his mother's entire family that September. It was at his grandpa's 80th birthday party. I smiled and made small talk with a lot of aunts. I didn't know anyone had as many aunts as me. And then when I met his grandpa, he pulled me close and said, "What are you with this boy for?" in a way only grandpas can. Justin and I smiled at each other. Man, was I gone.

I just wanted to be with him all the time. This long-haired boy with completely different interests than me. I would rather go to a museum, dress in DI clothes and go bowling, or bake cookies and watch Friends and here was this shaggy-haired, motorcycle riding, wakeboarder that captivated me. The only thing we had in common was how much we simply liked being with each other. And peanut butter cookies. And card games.

He thought I was funny, I thought he was fun.

This was the first picture of Justin my mom ever saw. I emailed it to her in Alaska. What she must have thought!

Being with him was the easiest, most natural thing in the world. There was no drama, no games, minimal misunderstandings. We seemed to always be on she same page about what we were and never had to have a "DTR" or "define the relationship" (Do kids still call them that?). I think that's why we got so serious so fast. There was nothing in our way. He was an open book and since we were so young, there wasn't a lengthy history for each of us to figure out. From ages 12-18 we had the same school, same friends, same memories. Even though we never spoke to each other during those years, our lives were already intertwined. We were so different in so many ways but so alike in everything that mattered.