My little tag line is "Stories Matter" and one of my favourite random quotes is about the very best stories being your own. It has many forms, sometimes throwing in "love story" or whatnot. Great quote. And stories really do matter. So let me tell you one right now.
Once there was this girl. She was a sweet little thing, 20 years old, passionate about overseas missions and she worked hard at her $6/hour job so she could travel. She was dating a douche. Let's call him Douchey McCheapSkate just for fun, shall we?
Several months into what could possibly be called a relationship, the sweet little girl was stood up by Douchey McCheapSkate on the night of her roommate's epic 19th birthday party. Never one to sit at home moping, she of course went stag(ette) because she would never miss said roommate's birthday.
The group at the bar was large and rowdy (in a fun, non drinking kind of way) and danced the night away, celebrating the last of them turning legal age. Some late coming crashers joined the table...one was a handsome, clean shaven guy straight out of the pages of GQ in a leather bomber jacket (hey, it was 1997, ok? That was cool.) and he shook the sweet little girl's hand. It was a good handshake, even though he had no idea that was important to her. He had blue eyes. He was supposed to be at another birthday party across the bar but spent the night dancing with the sweet little girl. They would randomly keep in touch over the next few weeks and go for lunch...only after some baggage was cut loose.
Knowing that the sweet little girl got up at the crack of dawn to go to work and still not caring about anyone but himself, Douchey McCheapSkate insisted he be called at 1am after his evening shift. He says mean things but doesn't actually do the breaking up. Not one to mince words, the sweet little girl says "Let me guess. You are tired of me and want to break up?" He says a few more mean things and she hangs up. Of course, epic roommate is there to dry the three tears shed and says "I know you probably aren't thinking about this at all, but who are you going to take to your formal staff party on Friday?" Oh darn. I forgot about that. I mean, the sweet little girl forgot about that.
Epic roommate offers to clean up her man and take the sweet little girl themselves. The perfect plan! But there were other things brewing. "What was the name of that guy at your birthday party? How can I get his number?" That's right. The sweet little girl did some sleuthing, called him up and invited him herself. He said he had to check his work schedule and would get back to her. In later years it would come out that he actually called a friend to ask if the sweet little girl was crazy or worth dating.
I wore a red dress. He was a perfect gentleman. My bosses spent the entire night grabbing his rear end on the dance floor. That is what you get when you work at an autobody shop with a crew made up entirely of men. He couldn't have been too offended because he mailed me a thank you card for inviting him to the party (it was really fancy, great meal, free drinks and free cab rides home) and there was a second date soon after that.
Things were made official in the dating department about a month later on New Years Eve. And not quite 5 years after that we tied the knot. There has been a LOT of story between then and now but for that, you'll have to wait for the book.
Do you have a fantastic love story? Write it down. Future generations will want to read it.
