Seven Years Ago Today...

Seven years ago today, I jumped on a plane and traveled 700 miles to spend five days with a man I only knew through emails and Yahoo! Messenger.  I was terrified!  I had come to really like the man I wrote to and chatted with online every day, but what would it be like to meet each other in person?  Would he really be as wonderful in real life as he was online?  What would he think of me?  I was pretty confident that he wasn't a weirdo or a creep.  We had been writing each other for four months, and I felt I knew him pretty well.  Still, I knew I was taking a risk meeting him in person.  I also knew that taking the next step in meeting him would mean that our relationship would be making some changes.  I was both scared and anxious to see what those changes would be.

I remember getting off the airplane with my heart pounding and my knees shaking.  The first thing I did when I walked out the Gate was search for the first restroom I could find.  All I could think about was making sure my hair and makeup looked okay after the two hour flight.  I remember looking at my reflection in the mirror, wondering if my looks would make a good first impression.  I left the restroom with butterflies in my stomach, trying to follow the signs to the baggage claim.  The hallway seemed to go on forever!  Every turn I took my heart would leap, thinking I was finally at the baggage claim and Brad would be standing there waiting for me. 

I did not see him right away.  In my mind I was expecting him to be waiting at the bottom of the escalator, watching me descend from the upper floor down to the baggage claim.  I was actually kind of relieved when I realized he wasn't there yet.  I needed a minute to catch my breath and calm down so I would not look too nervous.  After a few minutes of waiting, I looked toward the end of the baggage claim at the glass doors.  I saw a tall young man enter wearing a white collared shirt and tie.  I immediately noticed how tall he was and knew that it must be Brad.  The first thought that came to my mind was that he looked like a walking scarecrow-- he was so tall!  I told him the night before that I would be wearing red, so he spotted me instantly.  We greeted each other and hugged, and he helped me carry my bags.  I loved how polite he was.

That was the beginning of what later became a very special night.  Brad drove me to his house with U2 music playing in the background.  I met his family and we had dinner together.  Brad asked his mother to make corn-on-the-cob for me, since he knew how much I liked it.  After dinner, Brad changed into a red shirt to match mine and we drove to Salt Lake City to go on our very first date.

Prior to me flying out, Brad and I created a long list of date ideas.  We knew we needed to plan as many inexpensive and fun dates as we could in order to use our limited time together wisely and get to know each other better.  The first date we planned to go on was hike up to Ensign Peak, which I learned was just a couple miles north of Temple Square.  I picked that activity on purpose, because I knew it would be something fun for us to do on our first date together. 

I was not used to the elevation as we made our way up the mountain.  I felt completely out of shape as I huffed and puffed up the trail, wondering where all the air was.  Where was the air?  I needed air!  I felt kind of silly, because I had been working out at the gym three days a week for two months in preparation to meet Brad, and the trail was supposed to be "easy," according to what we had read online.  Brad was very patient and sweet the whole time, stopping whenever I needed to catch my breath.

The view at the top of Ensign Peak was beautiful!  I loved seeing Temple Square below, the Wasatch Mountains on the left, and the Great Salt Lake and the Oquirrh Mountains on the right.  We made it up just before the sun began to set.  The Salt Lake Valley was a beautiful sight, all lit up with pink and gold light.  I remember being surrounded by dragonflies and butterflies, and feeling like I was standing on a little piece of heaven.  Brad asked if he could hold my hand.  I gladly gave it to him.

Below are some photos of our first date to Ensign Peak.

 

I am so grateful I decided to take a chance on Brad and flew out to meet him in July 2005.  It was one of the best decisions I ever made.  We went on many fun dates together on my first trip to meet Brad.  We toured Temple Square, hiked up to Timpanogos Cave, swam at the Harman's house, went to Wheeler Farm, fed ducks by the Jordan River, toured the Kennecott Mines, and spent the day at This Is the Place Heritage Park.  It was a lovely week.  I'll treasure those memories always.