Christmas Memory #2

Jay and I had our first date....to his cousin's 9th birthday, in September 1986. I remember thinking how strange this was take a girl to a family gathering on your first date, but it also gave me insight into how important family was to him, and I loved that.

A week after our first date he said to me "You do know that we will be married someday, don't you?" I thought he was awfully sure of himself and I laughed, but inside I remember thinking "Ok, this sounds like something a stalker might say. Dude, you're creepin' me out."

But, on Christmas Eve of that year, just 3 short months after we started dating, he proposed and I said yes without any hesitation at all.

Then we opened a bottle of wine to calm our nerves as we prepared ourselves to tell our parents.
I remember our parents not being nearly as excited about our news as we were, and they voiced what their concerns were. Both Jay and I were hurt at first, but once I became a parent, I totally understood their concerns. I mean, we had only known each other a short time. But what they didn't know or understand was that we spent most of our time together talking....and talking...and talking. I can't tell you how many nights we sat up all night long talking. I knew more about him in that short 3 months than I knew about friends I had known for many years.

In July of 1987 we were married, and the rest, as they say, is history. But Christmas 1986 will always be one of my favorite Christmas'.

Here's a picture of us on that Christmas Eve night when we got engaged. Look at how young we are, holy cow!!! I had just turned 23 and Jay would be turning 21 in the Spring. I had my hair pulled up with a black bow in the back (does that scream 80's or what?), and my dress was black velvet and it was a size 5. S - I - Z - E 5 ! ! *sigh*