Still The One

Five years ago today I went on my first date with the lady above. 

I was pretty freakin' nervous, but I didn't let it show.

I kept my poker face.

I met the girl who'd become my wife at Logan's. The steakhouse. She waited on some friends and me. I thought she was the cutest girl I'd seen. For reals. And come to find out she went to the same school I did. I got her name and started stalking her on My Space. That's how long ago this was, folks.

I didn't sit idle. I put action to my online presence - this is sounding creepy, right? - and my brother and I started going to Logan's every single Friday. We'd request Dawn's table and I'd tip about 50% of the bill. She thought I had money. Huh, fooled her. Ha.

This continued until I was able to get her phone number and she went on a date with me. 

We tried two or three times to go out with one another, but the times we picked just didn't work out. We finally got a date picked out, and planned to meet after we got out of class, so nothing interfered. That date turned out to be, as I've already mentioned, February 14th.

I was blissfully ignorant until some classmates decided to point this out. 

This is what went on inside my mind:

Would she think it was a date?

Did she want this to become something serious?

Should I pay?

What would we talk about?

Was Macaroni Grill a nice enough place for a first date?

Oh, God, I suck at dating!

Thankfully, Dawn was one of the easiest girls I'd ever talked to. We were at the restaurant for an hour and a half or so, and talked about so many different things. Our families, what we wanted to do with our lives, and the woes of living in Tulsa. I'd never been good with girls and Dawn made me feel totally at ease. I've told her this, and am not joking when I say it, I knew it then that I wanted to spend the rest of my life with her.

About two and a half months later I asked for Dawn's hand in marriage.

Look at the guns on that guy. That ol' dog.

And one year later. BOOM . . . 

We're happily married. 

Come May 23rd Dawn and I will have been married for 4 years.

She's the best thing that's ever happened to me. She makes me excited about life and the future. She makes my dark days the brightest I've ever lived. If I were on this journey without her it would be nowhere near as joyful. I'm sure there are other women out there that could make me happy, but I'm not interested in finding out. Dawn Westmoreland is my better half. There is no woman that could match her in love, beauty, patience, or in humor. She's my soul mate and made specifically for me. After five years she's still the one.

I'll let Orleans do the singing . . .

Dawn, I love you, and look forward to another five . . . ten . . . twenty . . . thirty Valentines Days.