Chase,
Today marks five years since our “first date.” It blows my mind to think about how long ago that was when it feels like just yesterday. We had been acquaintances for a while, but something changed when I saw you walking towards me in the Cooper Library. I was in my second semester at Clemson trying to survive my Macroeconomics class, and I was staying late at the library almost every night to try and understand the material. My friend Carrie and I were in the studying on the third floor when you and your friend walked up to our table which just so happened to have two extra seats. You had the biggest smile on your face as you asked me what I was studying for and how great it was that you ran into me, while also slipping in a compliment about how pretty my earrings were. Let’s just say we didn’t study that much, and I ended up just being stressed because you kept asking me questions about myself and trying to make me laugh, and whatever you did worked because I remember people shushing us from how much we were laughing.
It was really late so you offered me a ride back to my freshman dorm. We just kept talking, and as you drove by the football stadium you asked me if I had ever snuck in. Snuck in? What sane person would do this? When my response was a clear, “NO and that’s probably dangerous and you wouldn’t do it anyway,” of course your response was to immediately turn the truck around and sneak in. (Maybe I should have been more worried about that fact that you knew how to sneak into the stadium?!) I also learned quickly not to challenge you on a dare, because you will go through with it, whatever it is. And it was to late now for me to wimp out… So there we were sneaking into the football stadium at 2 am in the morning, laying on the huge tiger paw on the 50 yd line, watching the shooting stars pass over us ( we saw four last night), and we just kept talking… about everything. About who we were, who we wanted to be, what we believed in, who Jesus was to us, and what we wanted to change in this world. That was the first time we ever hung out one on one. Way to set the bar high, Chase, haha. I woke up pinching myself in the morning asking if I had dreamt all that, and then quickly realizing I hadn’t because I still had to take that dreaded econ test!
Fast forward a few weeks that were full of texts and calls asking nonchalantly if I would be at “XYZ” event and maybe we would bump into each other there. My friend Carrie basically asked you to be my date to an ADPI function for me… clearly I did need a little shove haha. I remember you trying to play it cool, pulling out your phone to check your availability. Thankfully you were free because that could have been potentially awkward. We ended up having a blast. I thought then, and still think now that you are one of the funniest people I know. I couldn’t even be mad at you when we tried that fancy flip swing dance move and you dropped me because of the way you played it off like you meant that to happen and how much we were both laughing.
I do remember you specifically asking a couple weeks after that if you could take me on a “date” and it was a surprise. You picked me up with sandwiches and a blanket and drove me out to a pond to watch the sunset. I had so many butterflies, yet felt so comfortable with you like I had known you for so much longer. You handed me a water bottle with a message in it that simply wrote, “ Will you go to the dance with me?” The water bottle was a inside joke just because I would always steal yours haha. It was a perfect night.
It wasn’t until three years later after you got down on one knee, looked me in the eyes, and asked me to spend forever with you, that you told me you had known since our first date that I was going to be your wife. I’m certainly glad you didn’t tell me then because you probably would have freaked me out. But God’s timing is perfect and He works in such mysterious ways. I couldn’t have written a more perfect beginning to our story if I tried. One of grace (oh so much grace), forgiveness, and ultimately His love teaching us how to love each other.
Proposal Image by my sweet friend, Jessi Nichols.
I will have to write down the day Chase officially asked me to be his girlfriend and the proposal & wedding someday, but I just wanted to remember where we started and how God continues to weave our lives together for His glory and His purpose. Here’s to hopefully a million more sunsets and sandwiches with you if I were to be so blessed.
I love you.
Annabeth