I might have mentioned parts of this story before, and those of you who know me offline have likely heard it more than once. But in keeping with the spirit of February's major holiday—no, not Presidents' Day, you weirdos—I thought I'd share it again.
If you're not a fan of sap, turn away now.
Colt and I met in Oregon during high school in, of all places, chemistry class, when I was a junior and he was a sophomore. We were friends for a bit, but it wasn't until we had physics together the following year that we started talking, passing notes and flirting like it was going out of style.
We attended homecoming together, and Colt started coming over to my house to watch Roswell (even thought he could have cared less about the show.) On October 23, 2000, after an episode had ended, Colt asked me out, officially.
We dated for most of my senior year. We fell in love—both of us for the first time. We were the epitome of high school sweethearts.
The summer after graduation, however, my parents and I moved across the country to Connecticut and I started attending the University of Massachusetts. Colt and I tried to keep in touch, but we were no longer in an official relationship. The distance and the difference in our lives took its toll. Throughout the next five years, the timing was never right. We'd occasionally strike up conversations that ultimately always led to either me or him getting hurt.
I moved to Austin a year after graduating college, looking for a fresh start (and running from the snow). Colt was still attending the University of Oregon and dating a girl at the time, but I sent him a message that I was moving, just so he would know. (For various reasons, he's never been a fan of the state, and I therefore knew he wouldn't be a huge fan of the idea.) Our on-again, off-again relationship reached a tipping point, and we came to the unfortunate conclusion that we couldn't ever really be friends.
I think both of our hearts were broken all over again. Neither of us were in a position to be together, but neither of us wanted to let the other go.
In February of 2007, something led us to start talking again. By that time, we were both single, Colt was finishing school and we decided that it was "now or never." On March 23, we got back together. In September, Colt made the grand gesture and moved to Austin and in with me.
Fast forward a few years to December 2009, and Colt and I went on vacation to visit his family. We had the worst time with the airlines—delays and threat of getting bumped to different flights. Little did I know that Colt was planning to propose on Christmas Eve Eve. (Again, the 23rd ... we have a good thing going with the date.)
All of which brings us around to the photo at the start of the post. It was taken the morning of our wedding—October 23, 2010. Ten years to the date of the day we first started dating in high school. Colt and his groomsmen + 1 went out the night before and drew this in chalk on the sidewalk of a building across the street from where we were staying. Thankfully, Portland's often rainy weather held itself back so that I could wake up to this darling message.
True love, you guys. It is the best thing ever.
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