Yesterday in our daily email exchange, I asked Cary to write a part of our history from his point of view. The boy has mad writing skills and occasionally I'm gifted with surprise poem in my inbox or a letter on the table. Usually, I can barely finish them for the tears.
He asked me how detailed I wanted him to be and I left it up to him. I have to admit, I rather enjoyed reading his snippet and it brought back a few memories I had forgotten.
In 1995 I was attending Utah Valley State College and had just learned about the internet and chat rooms. I've always had a knack for computers, so during the computer science class time, I would finish the assignments quickly and then surf the internet. After jumping into some random message boards I wound up on RockWeb, a site for discussing music, which had been overrun by people trying to hook up with other people. I was quickly put off by all the flirting going on, but I ended up talking to someone named "Dilbert" who seemed to share similar interests in music.
It wasn't until a little while later that I found out Dilbert was a girl. With a bit of trouble I managed to get her phone number, and we both quickly ran up a few thousand dollars in phone bills (I put my car up as collateral to pay it off, if that doesn’t impress a girl, I don’t know what does). We talked whenever we could. I saved up enough to make a plane trip out to Arkansas. She says I wept when I saw her at the airport, but I'm 113% positive that I didn't. I spent a couple days in Malvern at her grandparents' house. We did a lot of running around Hot Springs seeing the sites, and getting lost in the rented car. I still remember our first fight with fondness. Her grandparents were smokers, and I react pretty badly to cigarette smoke. She took me to the local grocery store and tried to get me to purchase some asthma medicine. I resisted because I don't like to take medicine that I hasn't been prescribed to me. We argued and I 'caved' and bought it, but I put it into my backpack and didn't use it. So who really won that fight? Neener! The fights have only gotten sillier since then.
It was difficult to come back to Utah. I love my parents, but I decided that I needed to take a chance and set out on my own without a safety net, so at the end of September 1996, I packed up my stuff in a U-Haul trailer. We dodged a tornado in Malvern by a few minutes and my dad left the next day.
Amanda and I got married 3.5 years and many, many silly arguments later. Oh, and I found out she likes country music too, somewhere along the way. Doesn't matter. She's still perfect. Except that one time when she made that chili, and the other time she told us mustard greens was spinach.
Full Disclosure:
The chili is still brought up, some 15 years later. In my defense, It was the very first time I made chili. However, it was a disgusting mess. I burned it, badly, and I'm pretty sure that I didn't add all of the ingredients that I should have added. He ate it. I tried to eat it. Then, I threw it all away and we went and bought something else.
As far as the mustard greens go, I have no defense. I like for all of us to try new vegetables and fruits, sometimes it is a easier to stretch the truth a bit, or perhaps disguise the new food until AFTER they've had a chance to try it. The mustard greens. What a horrible vegetable. I don't ever remember them being that rancid, perhaps I hadn't had them before as I thought I had. I told everyone it was spinach and I cooked them like I do spinach, sauteed with olive oil and freshly ground black pepper and salt. I didn't see Cary eat them, but he took a bite, without complaint or pulling a face. He told me last night he just thought it was a horrible batch of spinach at first. Then, Gabby took a bite. She was less in control and pulled a very hilariously disgusted face. At that point, I decided I better try them. I put them in my mouth, chewed once, and spat them out. It was the most bitter, horrid flavor, except for that one time I made the chili....
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