Meeting Jason

I am in love. I have been for many years now. What amazes me is how the love I am in changes and grows and deepens every year.

I first heard about Jason from my friend Heather. She and I went to a church camp-out in late July 2000. I offered to share a tent with her since she didn't have one and I did. We stayed up half the night talking about men we were interested in. I talked about Brian (the guy I had just asked on a date -and he'd accepted) and she spoke of Jason.... a lot. Heather told me that Jason and she were only friends and he would be returning home from his two year LDS mission soon. She contemplated that perhaps once he got home, that he might notice her on a more romantic level. I hoped for her and I hoped I could find someone too.

Not long after the campout it was time for my date with Brian. He called me to chat about where we were going to 'hang out'. I told him I was happy about our date. He then let me know he must have misunderstood my intentions because he thought we were going out as friends, not a date. Ouch. Then he makes it worse by saying he couldn't be interested in me because he is more interested in girls like Michelle (a stick figure with lots of make-up and the latest fashions and very big hair) Double ouch. So, by then, I was fed up with men in general. I was 25 years old and sick of men ,particularly the men in Utah, and their expectations of perfection.

Shortly after that incident, Heather asked if I would go with her and a group of other young women to Lagoon (a local amusement park). She wanted to go as a group as a welcome home party for her friend Jason. It was early August. He'd come home Wednesday and our gathering was for the following Saturday. I had served a mission myself and new that he'd be a bit overwhelmed to come home to a group of girls (since dating is off limits during a mission). I thought I'd go as moral support for Heather and also out of curiosity to see this guy she spoke so much about for days.

We all met up out front. I saw him and thought, "Him?" He was kind of dorky in glasses that didn't suit his face, crooked teeth, skinny, and a bit shorter than I had expected (he's 5'10") but he did have lovely eyes, a ready smile, and gentlemanly manners. I had no interest in him for myself whatsoever. As the day went on, I thought he'd be nice for Heather but an unlikely match. He was so nervous. While waiting in lines for rides, I asked him about his mission. He shared many amusing stories. He was most relaxed while telling of his mission adventures. I had my camera with me and took a few photos. There is even one of me with Heather and Jason all together.

After that day, the three of us spent a lot of time together as friends. We attended church and a weekly Wednesday night church class together. Often after class we'd  go to Wendy's Restaurant for fries and a shake. I noticed he was a very sweet guy and I was really starting to hope it would work out for Heather because she deserved someone so nice.

I noticed she was too shy about flirting or any other type of romantic approaches and he didn't seem interested much in her either. We had a church activity to clean up the church on a Saturday. I was urging her to flirt or indicate to Jason in some way that she was interested but she was too hesitant because she'd never done anything like that in her life. I tried to explain flirting to her but it wasn't coming across. I said, "How about something simple. It may seem like it's too juvenile but such things really do work. Go steal the bucket he's using to clean the windows and skip off with it and then turn back and smile and maybe add in a giggle." She thought I was crazy and that such a thing wouldn't work. She wanted me to show her. So, I did. Oops. He fell for it, but with the wrong girl. It got his attention alright.

From that night on, he started paying attention to me and I was feeling bad for Heather. She assured me that in the few months he'd been home, she realized he wasn't interested in her and she was starting to crush on someone else anyway. She pointed out that she thought he was more interested in me and that I shouldn't feel bad. I still felt a bit guilty though.

By the end of September, as we were leaving our Wednesday night class, Heather had gotten in the car, Jason stopped me and asked me on a date. Whoa. He asked ME out? I had a feeling it would come to this but wasn't sure how I felt about it since I was still pretty ticked with guys. But, with Jason, he seemed safe, kind, harmless. So I said to him, "Sure, why not?" Wow, he grinned from ear to ear. We set our date for the second Saturday in October.

We've been together ever since.

Perhaps I'll write about our first date and his proposal nearly a year later in another blog post. ;)