31 May.
Our last day of this #BlogEveryDayInMay Challenge.
I have to admit, as difficult it may have been on some days (we all know those hectic days!), I have thoroughly enjoyed this challenge. As I have mentioned before, it has made me really think about so many different topics, dig deep to answer thought-provoking questions, look back on old photographs and day dream about special memories. It has also broadened my blogging-horizon on post variety and content.
So to sum it up, I have loved it!
Thank you Jenni
x
Back to today’s topic… A vivid memory.
I have a very good memory so there is plenty in this storage space.
So many to mention – my childhood, teen years, chaotic varsity years, relationships, friendships, experiences, our engagement, our wedding, our honeymoon, our travels, our pregnancy, SJ’s birth and first year, our new home… just so much.
But my favourite memory is… the weekend that MC and I got together for the first and made it all OFFICIAL.
Quick background updated – MC and I met through mutual friends in 2005. I had a serious boyfriend here in SA and he had an on/off girlfriend in the UK. We meet at a nightclub in a somewhat akward way – read the full story here. At this time, MC was playing country cricket in the UK for their 6 month Summer (April – September) and then coming back to SA to enjoy our 6 month Summer (October – March). On his return to the UK in the beginning of 2006, his relationship had ended and I had just ended mine too. We were both single and enjoying this fun and free time in our lives.
Fast forward to July 2006, I go out one night, get sightly tipsy, meet up with his friends and find the confidence to send him a text – just one of those, hi, how are you texts. He takes two days (he was pleasantly surprised) and he replies. We spend three months sending texts and emails and the odd call. We keep tab on each others lives, we send the odd flirtations – wish you were here – text but nothing serious. Unbeknown to each other, we don’t entertain any other relationships or interest in other people.
MC was due home on the 22 September 2006. Our three month text friendship was done via his UK number, I didn’t have his SA number so once he landed in SA, the ball was in his court – a surreal feeling for the control freak that I am. I spent that week over analysing every situation – will he call, does he want to call, when will he call, will I see him, does he want to see me, what will I do or say when I see him???? So many questions and NO answers.
Day One:
On the day of the 22nd September, I was down our South Coast doing a promotion on a local golf course. My phone was constantly at my side and my heart skipped a beat at every beep and buzz it made… Mid-afternoon, I was rescuing a little tortoise from a barb-wire fence (yes, I really was!) and my phone went… There is was, MC’s name on my screen, in my inbox, the text I had been waiting for – “hi, i have landed, good to be home, hows your promotion?” A few back and forth texts – enjoy being home, he was going to the beach, I was stuck 2 hours away, keep well.
Nerves, excitement, but still the unknown…
Day Two:
MC spent the day with friends, I spent the day doing everything and anything to keep myself busy and trying not to think about him. Impossible! He met friends for drinks that night, a small welcome home. i was tucked up in bed when a friend called in distress to go for drinks with her. We were both out having fun with friends, half an hour drive apart. A few shooters and flirty messages later, we chatted on the phone until one of us fell asleep.
Day Three:
MC had a 21st birthday to attend. I went to the beach with friends, felt dizzy and fainted (yes, I still swear the thought of him made me weak at the knees…) I spent the day in bed recovering whilst he partied away. I didn’t hear from him that afternoon/evening. I was sad. I felt forgotten. The unknown got the better of me. This was over before it had even started.
Oh well… moving on.
Day Four:
Wake up to his messages – concerned and worried about me after fainting the day before but he had left me to rest and sleep it off… Ok, perfect reason for not messaging. Random, platonic texts all day. And then it happens… the afternoon text inviting me for dinner, at his house, just the two of us. OMG!!! Really? This is what I had been waiting for. And now it was happening. What was I going to wear? What was I going to say to him? Hug or no hug? Kiss or no kiss? Fast forward a few hours and I park my car in his driveway, heart beating far too quickly, butterflies flying around my tummy, weak at the knees and warm, fuzzy feeling all over. And so begins the most perfect night ever – so easy and so comfortable. He didn’t make dinner, he gave me Energade to drink, we sat on separate couches, his dog sat on my lap and stole my heart, we “watched” the movie About a Boy, we spoke and spoke for ages… And I drove out at 2am, after a very awkward-close-and-too-long hug and a “Are you home safe and sleep tight” text. I went to bed with the biggest grin and a very warm heart.
Day Five:
I go to lectures and then to work. We send a few messages throughout the day. I make plans for a girls night out at a local club. He is staying in with dinner and red wine because all his friends are away (and boys don’t go out alone!) I get dressed up and head on out, sad and deflated that he won’t be there but have fun with my girls… Halfway through the night, I get a text “Nice orange top”, I feel like I am being watched, I search and search and find nothing. Stalker! A few minutes later, I look across the bar and there in a lime green Polo shirt (now who is the stalker??) is my future husband (yes, I knew this then too!), looking more gorgeous than the night before. We find each other, we have a few drinks, my girls leave, we chat more and more, he admits to coming to see me… alone!! I am grateful. He offers to walk me to my car (gentleman!), it’s pouring with rain, he offers to take his shirt off as a cover for me (I decline, although I have no idea why!!), he walks me to my car, we get in, he says good night and… leans across for the kiss!! Sopping wet, dripping in rain drops, the best kiss I can ever remember, The kiss that started our forever. We followed each other home and we sent goodnight texts.
And the rest they say is history.
History in the making.
Apologies for the longest post ever. But I love our story and so happy to share this special memory with everyone.
And to end off a very happy month of May… 7 years later!
Link up with Jenni
x
SO incredibly special my Cals!! Loved the way you wrote this – felt all your emotions and everything! Smiled the whole way through 🙂 <3
#meanttobe #truelove
Oh my goodness! I am such a sucker for love and this is probably one of the best love stories I've ever read. This just shows that true love does exist 🙂
Such an amazing story!
I love reading how people met and their love stories, this is the best! Thanks for a good read on a boring Friday at work 🙂