Show & Tell: How We Met

Driving down 121, chasing the setting summer sun, I answered a phone call from my aunt. Wearing my new, slightly revealing sundress, I felt butterflies fill my stomach. I explained to her through my dry mouth and just short of dry heaving breaths that I was on my way to a dinner date. And that is when Aunt Gail asked "So how'd you meet him?"

Aunt Gail and Me in 2010

***
Just five days earlier, a few girl friends and I headed out for a night out on the town. Our destination? A country dance hall nestled somewhere in between Dallas and Fort Worth. 

Now I could end the story here, making it a quick one, I met Husband that night. But... then I would be leaving out some less than glamorous details. 

Sitting on bar stools, over looking the dance floor, a then stranger, Husband approached our group of girls. He asked me to dance and I accepted. My first thought was "Wow, he's tall."

Casino Night Fall 2010

As the next song started up we walked out onto the floor and we made the usual introduction exchanges. You know the quick details you want to get out of the way before the dance hall is completely engulfed in fiddles and acoustic guitars. 

"Hi, I'm Drew. What's your name?"

"I'm Maren. Where are you from?"

"I grew up in -----. You?" 

"Oh, wow! I'm from -------- just down the road. Where'd you go to school?" 

"Texas A&M"

"Uh Oh. I went to Texas Tech."

Red Raider aside, I was little excited to hear this guy Drew graduated from Texas A&M. I love a little rival football!

Our first football game together! A&M v. Tech 2010

Our conversation pretty much ended there because the walls were bouncing with music vibrations. He twirled me around, spun me this way, spun me that way, it was a fast paced, no time to think twice polka/waltz, and I smiled through the entire thing.

Until the last beat. This guy spun me into one more twirl and went into to land the entire dance with a big dip backwards. But....his foot slipped... my foot scuffed... and his boot scraped upwards forcefully right over the top of my big toe.

A nerve shocking amount of pain ran up my spine and I knew something not good had just happened. Not even saying goodbye to this new face, I ran off the dance floor into the nearby restroom. 

Inside a bathroom stall, I looked down and saw my big toe completely covered in blood. I wasn't even sure if my toenail was still attached. Why oh why did I have to wear wedges to the country dance hall? 


This guy, Drew, not knowing me assumed I was sick from alcohol. He found my girlfriends and told them "Uh, I think your friend is sick in the bathroom." Confused, my friends vouched for me and said "She hasn't had anything to drink...." 

Then Drew sent one of his friends into the restroom to check on me. She walked in to find me buying a $2 band-aid from the bathroom attendant. That's right, $2 for ONE band-aid. No sympathy from that bathroom monitor. 

Kneeling down next to me, his friend Jenny asked "Did Drew do this to you?" I shook my head and frantically said "No, no." Then I raced through my mind those first introduction questions again. Remembering this guy's name was indeed Drew, and I quickly restated my answer, "Wait, yes. Yes he did."

Fortunately, the night did not have to end there. After a quick band-aid fix and a promise to myself to buy cowboy boots that week, I headed back out to find Drew waiting. We chatted a bit more and eventually took some more spins around the dance floor. 

Then as my girl friends and I were heading out, he asked for my phone number. Except when he started typing my name into his phone he put "L-A-U-R..." And as I saw what was happening I realized he had heard my name as "Lauren" not "Maren". A quick fix, and a good laugh he had my digits.

Two days later my phone rang as I was on my way to Bachelor night with the girls. I stared at the blinking number buzzing in my hand and wondered "Should I answer this?" 

And I am so glad I did. Our first date was July 2, 2010. He proposed July 2011. We were married June 2012. But that's a story for another day...

So ladies, make sure that when you go country dancing, you wear cowboy boots. Save the wedges for lunch dates. 

Valentine's Day 2015

Linking up today with Andrea for her Show and Tell Tuesdays and Tuesday Talk. Wahoo! So much fun.

Keep Dancing,