I'm In!

I came upon a party that I couldn't pass up. If anyone who knows me, knows I like a good party! So when I read 2Cool4myMinivan was joining the party started by Mimi Bella Boo (He asked, I said yes) I knew I had to join in. Here goes my love story:

I remember the night I met Jim. It was December 30, 1989 and I was 18 years old. Yes practically still a baby. I had gone out with a couple of my girlfriends and we were headed to a pre New Years Eve party. We were actually going to this party to meet up with a couple of guys we had met over the summer, and I thought one was interested in me. (Ok, what the hell was I thinking, I sound like one of the girls on the Bachelor chasing the guy, ugggh! Well it turns out I was not the one he liked after all. (Always go with your gut girls!) "Dick" took one look at my friend Stacy or should I say her chest and thought she might suit his taste more. Oh, if "Dick" could see my chest now, LOL! To be honest, that was a hard blow for me because Stacy didn't even look back at me after she walked away with him. (Can you say the "B" word!) By the time the burn on my face died down I realized I was left standing alone. Yup! You heard me, standing alone just when that slow song starts playing, "I wanna know where love is, "ok, am I really hearing this song? They were playing goofy 80's music, just to get a laugh, this was no joke!" (Pause) Oh sorry I was totally remembering an 8th grade dance where all the girls planned on wearing Hawaiian shorts, and I was the only one that showed up wearing them because apparently, I didn't get the memo that they had changed their minds and yes that song was playing. Sorry I digress, and I do that a lot so bear with me!

Ok, so I look across the crowded room, I know sounds cheesy but I did and there was this guy smiling at me. I couldn't believe that I actually started to walk over to him. I mean really at that point I was already humiliated twice so what did I have to lose, ok, really, just my dignity, but hey there was something pulling me in his direction. I didn't even think twice and I kinda slid up and introduced myself and we started dancing and talking.

We talked for a while and went outside because it was hot and loud and I couldn't hear his name. After a while of introducing ourselves and chatting a little, he leaned over and kissed me. I was so caught off guard I laughed. I knew for sure that was it and I was right, my friends were getting ready to leave. The next night was New Years Eve and we went to another gathering where I honestly didn't expect to see him so I didn't hold my breath. What do you know, Jim walked out of the house just as we approached the door. I was shocked. We said hi, and really that was it.

I left this time wondering when would I see him again, because I really wanted to! But would he want to see me? Jim was a couple years older than I was and he was attending the private college in town but seriously how was I going to get him and I in the same place again? My friends were of no help so I kinda gave up. Well, to my surprise he called three weeks later, yea me! I was absolutely elated! We talked on the phone and he asked me if I remembered who he was and I said yes, kind of. I knew his name was Jim but I didn't remember his last name. I said to him, "your last name is some bird right?" He laughed and said, "good enough after 3 weeks, its Partridge." Whew no points taken off for that. He asked if I would like to go out on Saturday. He said he would like to cook me dinner. Of course I wanted to, I wanted to scream with excitement, I've been secretly hoping and praying he would find a way to call me, so I answered casually mind you, "sure sounds great!" He asked me if I would like to just drive over and meet him at his apartment. I had a secret I didn't want him to know so I said, "you know, if it would be ok with you, could you pick me up, because I won't have a car available." Little did he know there wasn't even a driver's license to go with that car. I know its crazy but I did not get my license until I was 19 years old. The reason being, there were 4 kids in the family and no one was that interested in teaching me how to drive or even loan me a car to take the dam test. As nerdy as it sounds, It all worked out in the end.

Jim came to pick me up at my house. It was a weekend, so no one was home, so I gave him a quick tour around the house and he surprised me with a kiss. I was shocked and so not expecting that again, but at least I didn't laugh. He said that he had been waiting three weeks to do that. Wow, I guess I had made some impression on this guy! He told me that the reason it took him so long to call was because he had gone on a snowmobile trip with a group of guys and then when he got back he really needed to hit the books and finally just figured out what my phone number was and called me. At the time I was a blondie so the whole time he was on his trip and afterwards he listed to Blondie and thought of me, wow! I was totally flattered, Debbie Harry is smoking!


So this is what we looked like when we met. My mother was in horror when she saw his crazy hair. Not only did he have this crazy hair but he had his ear pierced and wore a little silver dagger in his ear. Don't even try to understand why, I still am not sure, and I still have that dagger earring! I cannot even believe how young I looked in this picture. I swear I remember this day like it was yesterday. Jim was over for dinner so someone decided I needed my picture taken.



We started to date pretty much after our first dinner date. Jim actually proposed to me on the 4th of July 1992. We had gone to the lake with his family where they had a big fireworks show. He had been acting a little strange all day but I just figured it was because we were with his family. We were lying on a blanket and all of a sudden he leaned over and said, "so, what do you think of spending the rest of your life with me?" I had no idea what he was talking about so I said, "yah, uh huh". I guess I was really into the fireworks so I didn't really pay much attention to him. He then pulled my face towards him and said, "No, I mean you and me forever." I said, Jim, quit talking your parents." I think he was losing patience with me because I wasn't really listening and finally he said, "I'm asking you to marry me!" Wow, shocker! I said, "are you serious!" He then took the ring out and I knew he was serious. We didn't have a traditional engagement ring, we actually had an Irish Claddagh ring.



Thought you might like some history on this ring:

The meaning and significance of the Claddagh ring is not just in the crown, heart and clasping hands, it also extends to the hand on which the ring is worn and the direction in which the crown on the ring points. In case of a married or engaged person Claddagh rings are worn on the left hand with the crown pointing away from the (the person wearing the ring) heart. For a person willing to consider love the ring is traditionally worn on the right hand with the crown pointing away from the heart. For a person not interested in starting a relationship the Claddagh ring is worn on the right hand with the crown pointing towards the heart.

We dated three years before getting married on December 29, 1992. Our actual wedding ring looked like this:




For some reason I chopped my hair off and colored it back to my natural color. Can you say helmet hair? And oh so matronly!
Notice the little bit of lace hanging from the dress, I stepped on my dress while putting it on, and no time to fix it! Look how big Jim's glasses are, they didn't seem big back then!



I have to give a shout out to my sister Amy who so sweetly tried to calm me down before walking down the aisle!



Nice cheesy grin! We were doing the meet and greet!



I was gritting my teeth at Jim, he so wanted to stuff cake in my face!



We had a beautiful wedding. 17 years later we are still in wedded bliss, with 2 kids ages 10 and 5 and several small 4 legged creatures!

Hope you like my story!