Memories from the past

The Fourth of July has always been one of my favorite holidays. I love fireworks and am a little bit of a pyro, so lighting them off is pure entertainment. I remember how excited I was as a little girl to go to the firework stand and pick them out... and honestly, I still am. ;)

Something happened eight years ago that made it even more special though. It was a Fourth of July weekend when I met Adam for the first time. Well, actually the second time... but I don't remember the first time. Adam was visiting his brother in Bellingham and we both were at Christ the King one Sunday. Adam always tells me about how his brother introduced us... where we were standing, what we said, etc. Hmmm, how did I miss this stand-still moment in time?

Anyway, his brother and sister-in-law tried to get us together over the next few months, but we kept missing each other. One day I asked about him, and they said he was in Mississippi for Pilot Training. For the ENTIRE year. So I thought at that point it was too late. Until one day, on January 6 (our wedding anniversary), he emailed me. That was how it all began. We emailed and talked on the phone for hours and it wasn't long before we knew that God had meant for us to be together. We asked every question you could ever imagine and thought we might possibly know every last detail about each other. The crazy part was, I didn't think I would even be able to see him for the first time until he graduated in December.

You can imagine my excitement and surprise when I found out he got to come home for the Fourth of July. I know for sure that I have never, in my entire life, been as nervous as I was the day we first saw each other. I was working at a Christian camp at the time and remember seeing him walking up the hill toward me. I could feel my heart pounding through my entire body. How crazy that this was the man that I knew inside and out, yet I had never held his hand or even gazed in his eyes.

It was on the Fourth of July, eight years ago, that we went on a walk with his parents and my mom. He asked them for permission to court me with fireworks bursting in the background. It was like a dream... this perfect moment in time that I will always remember. Especially on the Fourth of July.