Cupid’s Big Day

I am sucker for holidays and tend to go all out for them.  Valentine’s is no exception.  We’ve got the heart shaped clings on the windows, our wedding picture on our entry table and big plans for strawberry milk and heart shaped pancakes for breakfast on Saturday morning.

This isn’t anything new.  Back in high school I looked forward to the day even when I didn’t have a boyfriend to celebrate with.  I’d have fun girls nights with my friends, watching sappy movies and going out for ice cream, all the while dreaming of a day when I’d have a boy to celebrate the day with.

So, as Valentine’s Day approached in 1997 I was really looking forward to my first real date on the big day.  And I made no secret of this anticipation.

Scott, however is a wise man.  I am sure he felt the pressure and was afraid of disappointing his overly enthusiastic girl friend.  So, he went with the approach of, “make her expectations low, so you can’t disappoint her.”  Much to my dismay, he kept making sarcastic comments about how this was a silly holiday created by Hallmark.  I can’t remember why, but I remember him telling me he’d try to find black roses because they were really beautiful and unique if you took the time to really look at them.  Keep in mind it was obvious his comments were all in jest, which most of me knew, yet part of me was a bit discouraged that he wasn’t as into the big day as I was.  The night before Valentine’s Day I was staying late after school working on the yearbook.  He stopped by the office to talk to my teacher and me.  She mentioned that she had to stop and get a card for her husband on her way home.  His response – with a big smile on his face?  “Hey, can you pick up a card for me too?  I don’t have one yet.”

Nice, huh?

Come Valentine’s Day he came to my house in his mom’s minivan bearing a single red rose and a cute card (which I still have).  He took me to a nice dinner at Macaroni Grill and then ice skating at the Naval Academy.  As we skated around the rink, he grabbed my hand, for the first time.   And I had been so afraid he wasn’t going to do anything special for Valentine’s Day!

As we skated around the rink, I started to get a blister on my ankle from the skates.  But, I was so excited that he was holding my hand for the first time, that I didn’t want to tell him for fear he’d stop.  “What if he’s only holding my hand because we are ice skating, “ I thought to myself.  I didn’t want the magic to end.  So, I skated on until eventually the blister was too bad for me to continue.  When we sat down on the bench and took off our skates, I was bleeding through my socks.  He felt horrible and asked why I didn’t say anything.  I sheepishly told him I didn’t want him to stop holding my hand.  I am pretty sure he responded with something sweet and romantic like, “That was dumb!”

Much to my delight we went for a walk outside along the rock wall and he held my hand again (Hooray, I didn’t have to skate in order to get him to hold my hand)!  It was a truly magical evening…just like I had dreamed of.

I’m sharing my love story this week in honor of Cupid’s Big Day on Saturday.  Please come back tomorrow to hear how he proposed a little over 3 years later.  It’s the stuff dreams are made of (at least my dreams).