Boy meets girl. Girl plays hard to get. Boy doesn't give up. Girl falls in love. The end. That would be the short version of how Kieth and I met, but the long version is much more unique and interesting. So in celebration of Valentines day, I thought I would blog about how we met.
In the summer of 1992 I got a job at Dairy Queen along with a few of my best girlfriends. I was seventeen, self-absorbed, preoccupied, and thought the world revolved around me. It did, didn't it? Throughout my teen years I never had a serious relationship with anyone and aside from many crushes and a couple cases of severe puppy love, I had never met anyone that had that "he's the one" quality. That is, until a certain Navy sailor came b-bopping into my life one day in a shiny red pick-up truck. Well, there's more to it than that, so let's back up a little.
One of my co-workers at Dairy Queen was a guy named John. John had a twin brother named Joe who was in the Navy stationed in Memphis, Tennessee. Joe would come up to Mountain Home and visit his brother on his days off. On one of his visits Joe asked me to go out with him to a concert. I originally said that I would go, but when the time came, I backed out and stood Joe up. Concerts weren't really my thing and neither was Joe. Apparently Joe was pretty hurt by this so he went back to Memphis and told one of his friends all about this girl in Mountain Home that broke his heart. Joe and his friend devised a plan that went something like this. The friend would come to Mountain Home with Joe and meet this girl. Then the friend would get the girl to like him and then dump her, thus getting revenge for the scorned friend.
A week or so later {late October 1992} I was working one night at Dairy Queen when I saw Joe pull into the parking lot. I noticed he had someone with him, but I was not interested enough to find out who it was. Joe introduced me to his friend but I did not remember his name. After they left, my friend told me the guys name was Kieth. {I talked to Kieth about his version of this first meeting and he verified the fact that I blew him off and he was not happy about it.} A few weeks later Joe and Kieth came up to Mountain Home again to try to get my attention, but I was even more disinterested than before. I was actually pretty mean. I did not like Kieth, but it seems that he felt something for me. {Plan backfired} He would write letters all the time and send them to me. He was falling hard and I did not even give him the time of day. Kieth sent me a final letter and told me that he was never coming back to Mountain Home again......that is.....unless I wanted him to. I didn't really know him that well, but the thought of never seeing him again made me anxious and sad and more anxious, so I told him to come up one more time and I would go out with him to see if there was anything there. This is when Kieth decided to really step up his game. Up until this point, he had always come with Joe in his car to visit. But he told Joe that this time he would bring his red truck to visit me because it was a proven chick-magnet. {Whatever}
Throughout this whole time frame {about 6 weeks} I had been semi-dating another guy. I went to a couple parties with him and rode around town a lot and also took him to a church activity.
I was not exactly sure when Kieth would be coming to visit me, but I knew it would be soon. So here's how the night in question went down. I was working at Dairy Queen and the guy I was semi-dating drove by and asked me to go out with him after work. I told him sure and to wait in the parking lot after I got off work. Then, during the course of the night a perfume salesman that I had met before came by and asked me if I would ride around town with him after work. I am not sure why I said yes, but I did. Then, if you can believe it, that was the night that Kieth decided to roll into town! I did not know he was coming that night, so when he showed up, I was floored. Now my shift was over and I had three guys waiting for me in the parking lot. I was so nervous and confused and mad that I had gotten myself into this situation and I did not know what to do. I pleaded with my girlfriend to tell me what she would do, and utilizing her interestingly innocent seventeen year old wisdom, she advised me to choose the one with the nicest truck!
So my girlfriend went out and told Kieth to drive around the back and pick me up. I could not face the other guys and to this day, I do not know what happened when the DQ lights went off and I was no where to be found. I choose to believe that they are happily married and do not even remember that girl who stood them up over 17 years ago.
Kieth and I drove around town and got to know a lot about each other. I found out he was 26. I was only 17. I also found out that he had just gotten divorced after being married for 4 years. I was just a senior in high school. He was a war veteran and a Navy sailor. I was a blizzard and dilly bar maker. He had traveled the world. I had a map of the world. He was stationed in Memphis and I lived in Mountain Home. However, even with the multiplying obstacles and differences, there was just something about this guy that intrigued me......and I was falling.................
So that's it. That's how we met. Kieth and I have been talking lately about how we met and I asked him what his feelings were when he first saw me. I won't tell you what he said about that, but he did say that he loved me even before I knew that he loved me. He completely melts my heart and I know without a doubt that we are soul mates that were lucky enough to find each other. Three cheers to a Happy Valentine's Day and to finding the one that melts your heart......Until next time.
