fall-ing in love

I couldn't let the month of October go by without sharing a story ...

I met my husband in the spring of my junior year of high school. We hit it off immediately and became very fast friends (something, I told him, that would never change). As the summer came and went, we began spending more time together ... Hanging out on weekends, going to see movies, meeting up during separate vacations at the same place, having dinner with each other's families ... The list could go on and on.

For my birthday in September, he sent flowers and a necklace to me at school. Not only did this make me uncomfortable (I went to an all-girls' school, so gifts like this were cause for LOTS of attention ... Which I didn't want), it served as a huge reminder that this guy whom I merely considered "my friend" wanted to consider me something else entirely. Trying to shake off the strangeness of it all, the rest of September went by without incident.

Then came October.

I should note that both my husband and I have always loved the fall. Everything about it, even the dark and dreary days are met with open arms from both of us. There is no other season that makes us happier.

Maybe that's why I let my guard down ...

As the month began, we would meet up as part of a much larger group, driving out to various haunted attractions on Friday or Saturday nights. Somehow, despite all the different cars and drivers to choose from, we always ended up traveling together. This was fine with us, as barely a moment passed where we weren't joking or laughing about something ... Or singing along to the "Saturday Night 80's" the local radio station played.

By the middle of the month, the large group began to dwindle. A massive caravan of cars became one or two ... But that didn't stop our haunted outings. We kept going. Locating new attractions each weekend and making the trip to visit them, even if they were hours away.

By Halloween night, it was just us and a handful of friends. Although we probably could have fit into one car (or van), we drove separately. We were coming off of a long day together ... A pancake breakfast at church, a scary movie with a friend, a visit to his house, all capped off with one last haunted attraction ... A haunted forest.

To spare you the suspense, I went in holding onto the hood of his sweatshirt, but came out holding his hand ...

And the rest, as they say, is history.

That was Halloween 1999.

This Halloween, then, marks 11 years as an official couple. I say official, because (although, at the time I would certainly deny it) we were most obviously a couple from the very beginning. From that very first moment we spoke and hit it off, there was always something there. It may not have been romance, but it was a true connection.

One that would withstand many different obstacles and bring us all the way up to today...

It's just funny how the sights and sounds and smells of fall bring it all back ...