First Date

Ten years ago yesterday, I woke up deathly ill. I don't remember much--but I do remember that I wasn't able to be out of bed for more than an hour or two at a time. I also remember that I hoped and prayed (fervently) that whatever it was would go away before tomorrow. Because the next night was supposed to be my first date with Ryan.

I was REALLY looking forward to that date. Ryan had seen me turn guys down before and I didn't want him to doubt that I wanted to go out with him. (That makes me sound like I was a hot item. I really wasn't.) For some reason, I felt very strongly that I WANTED to go on this date. When I wasn't feeling much better by that evening, I asked my dad for a priesthood blessing.

The next morning, I woke up feeling slightly better, but definitely still sick. I was also still incredibly determined to go out with Ryan that night. So, I stayed in bed and rested as much as I could before it was time to get ready.

In the late afternoon, Ryan called. He had heard through a mutual friend that I was pretty sick and wanted to make sure I was still able to go out that night. I reassured him that I was feeling well enough to go out. But just barely.

What I didn't know was that Ryan was sick, too. He went to the necessary classes that morning and ended up asking a mission buddy for a blessing--because HE didn't want to cancel our date either. He skipped work that afternoon to go home and sleep. By date time, he was also feeling well enough to go out. But just barely. (In fact, he said my answer determined his. If I was well enough, he decided he would be, too.)

That night, we went out--two sickies who probably should have stayed home and slept--to grab some dinner and play pool at Ozz in Provo. When we placed our order for dinner, they told us their grill was off--so we couldn't have the burgers we wanted. And then after a few minutes, they decided to leave the grill on for our order--so the burgers were back on. And then after a few more minutes, they came out to tell us that they were out of hamburger buns, and would it be OK to have them on another kind of bread. Once the dinner issues were out of the way, we started playing pool.

I remember being across the pool table from Ryan, holding on to my orange juice, (we both ordered orange juice that night), and laughing, and then coughing. Every time either of us laughed, we both ended in up in coughing fits. There was a lot of laughing and coughing that night.

After Ozz, we went to join some of our friends to play games at Ryan's office while he started a weekly data backup. I don't remember much about the games. Or movie. Or whatever we ended up doing. When it got to be about midnight, our friends were heading home. I had a choice to stay for another couple of hours while Ryan finished the backup or I could go home with friends. I was feeling OK at that point, but I decided to go home and get some more rest. (And we thus avoided the awkward first date doorstep scene.)

Turns out that it was probably a good idea that I went home with our friends that night. As soon as everyone left, Ryan slipped back into feeling horrible again. When he finally went home in his half-sick stupor, he ended up sliding on the icy roads, spinning a few donuts, and hitting a barrier in the middle of the road with his back bumper. (He and his car were totally fine--which was a huge relief!)

I had a great time with Ryan--and, apparently, he had a great time with me, too. We decided to get married a month later and got officially engaged a month after that. I'd like to ask, "Who knew!?," but, really, I think in the back of my mind, I knew. I wasn't ready to admit it for a while, but somewhere deep inside, I knew. And for the rest of my life, that date 10 years ago today will remain the beginning of the best thing that ever happened to me.