I Didn’t Know

I’m feeling sentimental this morning.  Eleven years ago sometime this week, or maybe last week, my life was about to take a radical change.  I was about to start my sophomore year of college, and I was roasting my way through the last of summer school (July in Mississippi is brutal), still in mourning for a relationship that had crashed and burned in February that year.

Before Facebook.  Before MySpace.  Before Twitter.   There was Six Degrees.  It was a lot like MySpace, actually, and the whole social site was based on the theory of 6 degrees of separation (the notion that everyone in the world can be connected by 6 degrees).  There were profiles and interest groups and such, and you could get online and talk to random people (something I did often in college).  And one very hot summer day I got a random message from somebody with the handle AlCartman.

I don’t know why I talked to him.  I despised SouthPark, so his handle didn’t inspire any confidence.  But he was in my martial arts group and he was from Mississippi, so I said “Hi” back.

I didn’t know, then, that we would turn out to know several mutual people in common (given that Mississippi is one giant small town).

I didn’t know that I’d be meeting him for lunch and a movie on July 31st (hooking up with a rose and a book in a very You’ve Got Mail meeting at Books-A-Million) that would turn into lunch, a movie, a tour of my hometown, dinner, and another movie before I drove back home to Oxford and told my BFF at the time “oh he was cute, but I don’t think there’s anything there.”

I didn’t know that four weeks later I’d be saying “I think I love you” and trying desperately to take it back because I was convinced I’d scare him off.

I didn’t know that two months later, he’d write me a gorgeous song that hooked me for life.

I didn’t know that three years later I’d be saying “yes” to a sweaty handed proposal.

I didn’t know that I’d be walking down the aisle four years later in a kick ass dress to meet him and start forever.

I didn’t know I’d be getting the world’s best in-laws.

I didn’t know that I’d get so many years of laughter and smiles from this incredibly generous man who bursts into random song at the drop of a hat and gives the best wrap around bear hugs.

I didn’t know that, despite less than stellar job conditions, I would be so happy.

I love you, baby.

10 thoughts on “I Didn’t Know

    1. Yes, housed within this uber practical, obsessive, Type A personality is a jumbo sized jar of marshmallow fluff. 🙂

  1. Wow. Just wow. It just goes to show that you never know. Thank you for this adoring glimpse into your lives.

  2. Aw, that was so nice. I’m a witness, he is very cute (though now I realize I’m disappointed I didn’t get a random bursts of song on my recent visit).

  3. Of all the things anyone can share, and thanks for sharing the random luck of how you met, and then having the good fortune to still feel this way is so inspiring Kate! This is a “Kodak moment”, “Hallmark card-in-the-making” kind of story! And you still being able to cherish the fact that life dealt you such a wonderful relationship is what will make it last and last because you are not taking it for granted..

    jackie ^_^

Leave a Reply to Lauralynn Elliott Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.