Eww... I really dislike this picture :)
… as I walked into the living room, the air was thick with
awkwardness. I really wish I could say
that while we sat there, we just clicked… that we had these long, in depth
conversations that went on and on for hours… that the time just seemed to pass
us by we were so captivated by each others company. That was not the case… I
was so excited and so terrified at the same time. We sat there, not really knowing what to say
to each other. After a short amount of time my Aunt suggested we go
outside. We had a patio table out there
with plastic lawn chairs surrounding, all of this sat underneath a tree in our
yard. It was nice to get out of the living room and enjoy the nice fresh air…
it wasn’t yet steamy hot in the Summer, and the mosquitoes were not terribly
bad yet either.
However, getting Daniel to talk was like pulling teeth! He
was very quiet by nature, as was I, and I’m sure now that I look back on it, he
was just as nervous as I was. Every now
and then I would gather up enough courage to ask him a question… usually he
would respond with a quick answer and then silence would fill the air once
again. He may have asked me a question
or two, I more than likely responded the same way… short, to the point… over.
I sat at the table, picking little pieces of plastic off it,
my head down… trying to think of some way to get him talking. I wanted to know
everything there was about him! I
finally decided that I might have been making him nervous with my nervousness and
I would “play it cool”.
I allowed myself to just relax… I had this… I was going to
pretend I was not wearing my brothers long jean shorts and my hair was not a
total mess! I leaned my plastic lawn
chair backwards, so that it was standing on just the two back legs as I was
sitting in it… and slowly, began to rock back and forth.
The rocking motion kind of got my mind off the whole awkward
silence of the evening. After a few
minutes the mood started to lighten up and conversation really began to flow. I
can’t tell you what the conversations were about, not because I don’t want to,
but because that was 13 years ago and I honestly have no idea what they were. The only thing I can tell you, was that about 10 minutes into the good
conversation, as I was still rocking on the back two legs of that chair, I felt
the gravitational pull increase towards the rear of said chair! I shifted my weight towards the front
thinking that I could sort of counter weight it and bring the front legs back
safely down towards the ground. In the meantime, Daniel jumped up and was going
to grab the chair to keep me from falling backwards… simultaneously, the chair
stopped in mid fall, and for that single moment… it seemed as if it were
going to land softly back on all four legs… Daniel, satisfied that I had
everything under control, sat back down in his chair. About the same time he
sat back, the two back legs of the chair
I was sitting in… buckled.. and backwards I fell…
I lay there… still in the sitting position… still in the
chair… the chair on the ground… I had a wonderful view of the stars in the
night sky. I didn’t want to move… I
didn’t want to get up… I didn’t want to face anyone… I wanted to sink into the
ground. My brother-in-law was rolling
with laughter, Daniel was smiling, trying to be sympathetic, trying his best
not to laugh…but hey.. it was
hilarious! My Aunt was the only one
composed enough to ask me if I was o.k. in which I replied “yeap”. Despite the fact that I looked like absolute horridness, despite the fact that I could not calm down enough to be myself around this guy I have been thinking about all this time... despite the fact that this all seemed like a dream, and a nightmare at the same time... and that I just had the most embarrassing moment of my life, in front the only crush I had ever had... I was o.k.
Eventually I got up, excused myself, and went inside to
regroup my thoughts … and what little was left of my dignity. When I gathered up enough of that dignity to
go back outside, the ice was definitely broken… apparently by my head hitting
the ground!
Conversation between Daniel and I wasn’t flowing steadily at
this point, but it was definitely getting better!
He came to visit me again the next night, and the next, and
the next, and that went on for months. I figured if seeing me at my worst dressed, worst hair day, and at my clumsiest didn't scare him away... I didn't know what would.
One day while we were having a conversation, (conversation was better as we warmed up to each other) he asked me if
I had ever been to Grand Isle, Louisiana, I told him I had not been there
before. He said he thought I would like it there, and that he would take me one
day. I liked that idea…
To be continued…
(Till this very day, he laughs so hard he can barely tell
the story of when I fell backwards out of my chair)
Read Part 1 to learn what you can win by a simple comment!
2 comments:
So sweet! Loving the story....and the pictures too.
That sounds just like my husband and I. I still have no idea how I ever got him to talk! Love following your story, but these to be continueds are killing me!
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