15 Years

I wanted to put this post up on February 3rd, but for advertising purposes I left the Food Nanny post up instead. So today I’m posting about the day Mike and I met. It was February 3rd, 1995, 15 years ago….

….my cousin Melissa was dating Tyler who happened to be a high school friend of Mike’s. Tyler was busily organizing a group of friends to attend a dinner-dance at the USU institute. The institute was offering a significant admission price discount for groups of 8 or more. Tyler was a penny pincher. He asked me to come along and he also asked Mike. Little did he know how significant those invitations would be.

When the night of the dance came around, February 3rd, I sat in the corner of my Grandma’s couch crying my eyes out. At that time I was experiencing my first awful round of a mental illness that has plagued my life on and off ever since. I was depressed, anxious, feeling like my life as I knew it, or had dreamed it, was no more. I know that sounds a bit melodramatic, but that’s truly how I felt. I was a mess, so I had decided not to go to the dance. I’d just stay home and feel… sorry for myself.

Luckily, Melissa convinced me to dry my eyes and come along, arguing that perhaps the night out would be a good distraction for me. I reluctantly agreed, and as I climbed into the van packed with college coeds, there, in the seat in front of me was Michael. From my seat I could only see the back of his head, but I could hear his voice clearly. I liked his voice right away. I liked what he was saying too, something really nice about the sadness of leaving Denmark to come home from his mission.

I’ll admit that I was too distracted by my malfunctioning brain to pay much attention to Mike during the dinner, or during the comedy act that was our entertainment for the evening, but I did take notice when he asked me dance towards the end of the evening. I don’t remember the song we danced to or anything like that, but I do remember that right away I felt there was something calming about him. I liked that.

I sat in my same seat in the van on the way home. It was cold out. I was feeling tired and sober. I remember Mike and my good friend Kat laughing and joking. Kat was telling Mike that if he agreed to marry her, he would get the 10% discount at the department store where she worked. She was flirting a little. I thought it was strange that I felt jealous. I don’t know why I should have been, I hardly knew Mike, but I was.

The next night was a Sunday and I remember that Melissa, Tyler, Me, Mike, and my friend Debbie went to the CES fireside together. I remember Mike wrote the word “straalende” on my hand. That’s Danish for “radiant”.

That was many years ago. Here I sit, typing away. Mike’s behind me on the couch. Every now and then he reaches over and rubs my neck or shoulder, pats me on the head. I’m thinking about how much we’ve been through together, how good he’s been to me for so many years. The song, My Life Would Suck Without You just started on my I-pod. What a silly song, but I agree with the words (even if my mom always told me not to use the word suck).  You know what though, it truly would *#^* without him. I love you Michael.