My First Valentine's Day With Edwin

As a short trip down Memory Lane, I thought I'd share a little about my first Valentine's Day with Edwin. He and I had been dating for about two weeks. We were already pretty giddy. I had believed that he was the one from the first conversation, which lasted a couple of hours. We'd emailed quite a bit under the rouse of "youth pastor and youth volunteer." He was a youth pastor, and I was a youth volunteer, but I don't think it's typical for a youth pastor to send five (personal, not group) emails a week to a youth volunteer, and I'm sure that most youth volunteers don't get all lightheaded at the sight of the youth pastor's name in the inbox.

Edwin gave me a commentary on Isaiah the day before Valentine's Day. The next day he gave me a Valentine's bag that he had made at work as a special education assistant, which I still have. He had filled it with my favorite candy in the world: Hershey's Cookies N' Cream bars. There was also a note. He drew pictures on the bag of things that were special to us, like a duck. He and I would go to the pond that was in his neighborhood and feed the ducks while we chatted. He also drew hints about what we were going to do that night.

It was a surprise. He had carefully thought it out. Like our first date, we would spend the evening in Pensacola. We liked having the drive from Mobile to Pensacola because it gave us lots of time to talk. He didn't tell me what we were doing until we pulled into the parking lot. We were going to see a minor league hockey game! I really liked hockey, but I had never seen a live game. (As a sidenote: I was shocked at how little time the puck spent on the ice. That thing was flying everywhere. There were lots more fights than in NHL hockey, too.)

It was fun. We got to chat, which is the benefit of not seeing a movie for a date. I enjoyed watching the game, and I loved getting to know this wonderful guy a little better. I was thoroughly hooked by the time we left the arena.

We wanted some food, but it was late, so we ended our date in the McDonald's parking lot. (Only the drive-thru was open.) We sat in the car, eating and listening to the Phillips, Craig, and Dean and Caedmon's Call cds I'd gotten him for Valentine's Day. It was a fun evening.

Six years, two diplomas, three cities, and two kids later, we're still spending Valentine's Day together. What are we going to do to celebrate? We're going to watch some t.v. shows we never get to see via the internet and eat Pizza Hut pasta while the girls are being lovingly cared for by my wonderful parents. We're going to talk. We're going to remember how well God took the two of us and turned us into a family. It's going to be another fun evening!