Memories #2
It's a rainy Saturday morning. It made me remember one of my favorite moments with Ricky. It happened somewhere in the realm of 12 years ago this month.
It started off like an average Friday. At this point we had been dating for just over 6 months. We both knew we wanted to get married. Call us crazy, or young and naive, at the ripe age of 19 and 20 we knew what life was all about and that we wanted to spend it together. I got a call from Ricky at lunch he said, man have I had a morning. He then proceeded to tell me on his way to work he had been pulled over for expired car tags. There had been some misunderstanding between he and his dad about who had gotten new tags as the car was in his dads name. He was ticked, he just wanted to go purchase new tags but the staunch Springfield police officer was super pumped to tow his car and leave him stranded. In a desperate attempt to keep her from doing so he said, I have to get to work on time AND I have guns in my trunk, I can't leave those in my trunk at an impound lot. I want to say the guns were for hunting...but what does one hunt for in May?! The police officer said I'm just getting off my shift, grab your guns I'll take you to work. When he looked at her in disbelief she said "What, if you try to shoot me I'll shoot you first" I kid you not. At the time Ricky worked as a crane operator for my dad's company. He pulled up to the job site late, in the backseat of a cruiser, hopped out with 2 shotguns and a handgun. I still laugh at the visual. My dad does too. At lunch when he called he had gone and gotten his car out of the impound lot and paid the fine and fees for around $500. He was TICKED. That afternoon it began to rain hard, so he worked outside in the rain, mud, and nastiness. He was not a happy camper.
After work he called and asked if we could hang out, he was miserable and needed dinner. It was still pouring down rain, I brought dinner. Panera chicken noodle soup in a bread bowl to be precise, does comfort food get any better than that? As soon as I arrived he said he had to run out but he'd be back. He had a nice dress shirt and khakis on. Not sad dejected sweats, like I expected. I waited around the apartment thinking something felt off. He called me around 20 minutes later and said hey I'm back I need help getting something out of the car. I was like, for real?! Guys, it was a monsoon out there. I told him he'd have to wait. I didn't want to get wet. (Sweet girlfriend move, right?) He said pleeease just open the door and look out. SOOO I did and there he was on one knee, giant bouquet and a ring, and pouring rain. He said, today has been the worst day of my life but I hope you can make it the best, will you marry me? I couldn't believe it. It was raining! I LOVE the movie Little Women. Spoiler alert for those of you who haven't seen this delicious old classic: In the end sweet awkward Mr. Bhear asks Jo to marry him, IN THE RAIN. It's all very romantic and perfect. When I saw that movie I decided that was the best way to be proposed too. I never told Ricky (Because how does one have that conversation? Oh by the way, I know we have talked about getting married, if you decide to pop the question, make sure it's raining just perfectly...) about my plan, I just figured if it was meant to be it would happen. I said yes and we kissed and had a moment. I wish I had an awesome picture to share with you, but this was pre-awesome iPhones and we didn't think about taking pictures, you will just have to use your imagination. Ricky in his dapper red dress shirt and khakis, picking me up in my awesome loungey sweats and twirling me in the rain. It was kind of perfect. He asked later what I would have done if he had asked when it wasn't raining. I told him I would have said no....he wasn't impressed.
Our church has been doing a series on marriage. I highly recommend checking it out here. Several people have asked if it has been hard to hear. I can honestly say no, what Ricky and I had was a marriage that honored God. I can look back with very few regrets, we both chose to show honor and respect to each other. I am so thankful.
This is one of my favorite pictures of us. Good times. Normally rainy days would have me all emo, but not today. Today I will treasure this memory. Looking forward to what today will bring. Lots of love friends..
