Things happen on October 26th
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When you're dating, there are lots of "anniversaries," most of them created by the fairer sex. There's the date we met. There's the date we started seeing each other. There's the date we became a couple, which isn't the date we started seeing each other because we didn't know where it was gonna go so we don't count it until we actually became a couple. There's the first time she got her nails done since we've been a couple while it was also a full moon on the third Friday of the month. There's an anniversary for everything. Then things progress and maybe you get engaged and that gets an anniversary. It's so hard to keep up sometimes.
Linda and I were in a long distance relationship. We met in terms of becoming aware of the existance of one another. We met in terms of speaking and getting to know each other. Then we physically met. We acted like we were dating before we met, but we weren't dating because you can't date someone you haven't met. And you can't be dating as of the moment you physically meet. So you wait two days and call it dating. I'm exhausted.
You don't want to miss any of these dates either. Luckily, in 229 days we have one date to trump all others - the wedding anniversary. Incidentally, that will be June 12th. Why June 12th you ask? Well the 12th seemed as good a Friday as any in June. But 6 and 12 have a distinct relationship that 6 and 19 don't have. 6 - 12. Easy to remember. Plus, one of my best friends on the planet is 6/8 and another is 6/10. So we're 8, 10, 12 and can help keep each other abreast of fast approaching dates. They have a multi-year head start on me though.
So why today? What does 10/26 have to do with anything about anything? Well, 3 years ago today my good friend Tim spoke in favor of those wacky OWSers shitting in Zuccotti Park about damning the corporate man while posting about it on Facebook from iPhones connected to WiFi in Starbucks. That means it's also the day that Linda and I met. Three years have gone by since I giddily called Matt to tell him about the hot girl I was chatting with on Facebook. She's so adamantly conservative and gorgeous and she's a Jets fan. She's like me, but prettier by 1 million orders of magnitude. And you'll never believe what just happened. She sent me a Facebook friend request that I'm not going to accept for almost 24 hours just make it plainly obvious I'm not that creepy desperate guy that looks at her like a lion looks at a steak. Nope. I'm going to wait and run the risk that the woman who turns out to be my future wife loses interest and walks away. Yup. Sounds like a solid plan. And I did exactly that, but I got lucky.
And so began the first Adventure of Jason and Linda - getting to know each other over Facebook, text message, phone calls and FaceTime while I finished mysentence enlistment in Mississippi. Skip ahead 17 months and I'm home and we're living together. We have successfully endured long distance and now that we're cohabiting we have to endure no distance; and we've never yet experienced that happy middle.
Skip ahead 7 more months. It's October. It's a cold blustery day. We're in the city to take photographs because I'm a photography hobbyist and Linda has chosen to be my pupil.
That wasn't just a day in October. That was October 26th. Two years to the day from when Linda came into my life, I decided to make sure she never left it and asked her to marry me. It was not by accident that we shared the photos of our engagement photo shoot with everyone just one day prior to this on 10/25. Nobody quite knew why, but the anniversary was around the corner and I was leading up to today.
So here we are. It's Sunday evening, three years from the day I met her, one year from the day we got engaged and less than a year from the date we marry. All these dates seem somewhat arbitrary, but they remind us. When I find lights on in every room of the house and she finds my socks ever so close to the hamper, yet not quite in the hamper, these dates remind us. One day we were strangers, the next we were acquaintances and 2 years to the day we were fiancé to one another.
All along the way, we've been this happy, squishy faced couple:
So that's the story of October 26th and why it continues to be an important spot in the timeline of our lifelong adventure.
Linda and I were in a long distance relationship. We met in terms of becoming aware of the existance of one another. We met in terms of speaking and getting to know each other. Then we physically met. We acted like we were dating before we met, but we weren't dating because you can't date someone you haven't met. And you can't be dating as of the moment you physically meet. So you wait two days and call it dating. I'm exhausted.
You don't want to miss any of these dates either. Luckily, in 229 days we have one date to trump all others - the wedding anniversary. Incidentally, that will be June 12th. Why June 12th you ask? Well the 12th seemed as good a Friday as any in June. But 6 and 12 have a distinct relationship that 6 and 19 don't have. 6 - 12. Easy to remember. Plus, one of my best friends on the planet is 6/8 and another is 6/10. So we're 8, 10, 12 and can help keep each other abreast of fast approaching dates. They have a multi-year head start on me though.
So why today? What does 10/26 have to do with anything about anything? Well, 3 years ago today my good friend Tim spoke in favor of those wacky OWSers shitting in Zuccotti Park about damning the corporate man while posting about it on Facebook from iPhones connected to WiFi in Starbucks. That means it's also the day that Linda and I met. Three years have gone by since I giddily called Matt to tell him about the hot girl I was chatting with on Facebook. She's so adamantly conservative and gorgeous and she's a Jets fan. She's like me, but prettier by 1 million orders of magnitude. And you'll never believe what just happened. She sent me a Facebook friend request that I'm not going to accept for almost 24 hours just make it plainly obvious I'm not that creepy desperate guy that looks at her like a lion looks at a steak. Nope. I'm going to wait and run the risk that the woman who turns out to be my future wife loses interest and walks away. Yup. Sounds like a solid plan. And I did exactly that, but I got lucky.
And so began the first Adventure of Jason and Linda - getting to know each other over Facebook, text message, phone calls and FaceTime while I finished my
Skip ahead 7 more months. It's October. It's a cold blustery day. We're in the city to take photographs because I'm a photography hobbyist and Linda has chosen to be my pupil.
I told you all about the details of that day. We took no photos at all because in the middle of the Brooklyn Bridge, which is one of Linda's favorite places, I took a knee to retrieve a memory card for the camera and out came an engagement ring instead. We did, however, go to Eataly to celebrate the day's events.
That wasn't just a day in October. That was October 26th. Two years to the day from when Linda came into my life, I decided to make sure she never left it and asked her to marry me. It was not by accident that we shared the photos of our engagement photo shoot with everyone just one day prior to this on 10/25. Nobody quite knew why, but the anniversary was around the corner and I was leading up to today.
So here we are. It's Sunday evening, three years from the day I met her, one year from the day we got engaged and less than a year from the date we marry. All these dates seem somewhat arbitrary, but they remind us. When I find lights on in every room of the house and she finds my socks ever so close to the hamper, yet not quite in the hamper, these dates remind us. One day we were strangers, the next we were acquaintances and 2 years to the day we were fiancé to one another.
All along the way, we've been this happy, squishy faced couple:
I know what some of you are wondering - did I plan the dates to overlap? That sounds like a very "me" thing to do, but that's a complicated answer. I couldn't possibly have known what date I was doing to meet her and that it would also fall on a weekend 2 years later when I would ask her to marry me. I couldn't possibly have known that 7 months after moving home, we'd be taking that next step. So, no, I didn't plan it. However, when I got the ring in my possession and it occurred to me that I had her, the ring and an empty calendar on 10/26, there was no stopping that train. So, I did make sure, come hell or high water, to follow through with my plan that morning (part of which included copious amounts of DayQuil and, later, wine).
So that's the story of October 26th and why it continues to be an important spot in the timeline of our lifelong adventure.