December 31, 2013 ... Katie almost didn't come to Ken's house because she was doing her Christmas puzzle. The kids and I were staying with Ken in Chicago for New Year's and were around the table telling mother jokes. You know, "yo momma so old she was a waitress at the Last Supper" and "yo momma so fat when she dances the band skips." Well, Katie and Michael came over, and she sat right down at the table and joined the banter. Neither of us can say it was love at first sight ... but it was something. I was aware that she was different. I remember noticing it, feeling drawn to her in a new way I never felt before. I don't understand or question it ... but I remember how unique it was.
Katie apparently was more drawn to my kids. She had a very different sense. She felt connected to them and felt she would be in their lives. She watched me parent them, especially taking care of Ty who was in some distress that night. And then the next day when we were saying goodbye, she knew she would be seeing me again. She didn't know how or why, but she knew it wasn't over.
We started as friends over e-mail, then progressed to FaceTime which has been much of our relationship given the distance ...
Our first date was Tough Mudder in May 2014. I did the 11 miles and mud and electricity, she watched and ran between the obstacles to meet me in time to see me pass through. She missed me go through the last obstacle -"Electroshock Therapy" -where you run through live electric wires, so I has to do it again. Damn, what you do to impress a girl. But then when I asked her for a hug and she jumped into my muddy arms without reservation ... I knew she was something special. For whatever reason, this remains one of my favorite moments in our relationship.
So many adventures together in Year One, and every year actually. Since we don't get to see each other often we do a great job of compartmentalizing our time and dedicating it to each other. So many adventures including travel, hot air ballon ride, Too White Crew performance on New year's Eve (and several others), another Mudder, dressing up as Joker and Harely for Halloween and 5Ks, (Black Widow and Wolverine too), mountain biking, and so much more. I make her a 1,000 piece puzzle every year (pictured is year 2) to remember our adventures in pictures (and since a Christmas puzzle finished early is what allowed us to meet!) ... but our first trip together has the best storied adventure ...
Dating 3 months and we go to Arches National Park. So we are hiking in this park that is basically rocks, following a trail marked by small stacked rocks. We are on a 4 mile loop. We get to a point , 3 of the 4 miles in, where it looks like we have to jump down this cliff. Katie decides to throw our backpack (with car and hotel keys) down the cliff so it will be easier to scale down the wall. But we can't scale down the wall, so we have to turn around and go back 3 hours with only an hour of daylight left. We call the ranger and they send somebody (6 hours later). In the meantime, we hear thunder and watch as a storm rolls in as complete darkness covers us. The Sand storm hits us first and we have to cover our eyes and mouth to breath. It starts to rain so we find shelter tucked in under an overhanging rock, Katie nestled inside as I shield her from the rain with my back. A loud clap of thunder and lightning and I squeal. You never heard thunder this loud, people. It was like we were in the cloud itself ... Water is running over my feet and I say "well, at least no water is getting in here." Not 10 seconds later and a crack opens up behind Katie and a stream of rainwater starts pouring down her back. ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!? It eventually stops and about an hour later rangers come and ask if we are ok. Katie says she is cold. It is now 50 degrees outside, we're wet, with a t-shirt and shorts. They don't have blankets. They walk us back, their flashlights guiding the way. (Which by the way- was all we has needed- flashlights-- a staple we take on every hike with us moving forward) It takes us another 90 minutes to get back to the car. I ask if they can pop the lock because, you know, Katie threw the keys away, and the ranger says we can't stay in the car. That's camping. ARE YOU KIDDING ME? Ranger says we need to get a cab back to our hotel and come back in the morning. Do cabs come to Arches National Park at 2 AM? And even if they did, we don't have a hotel key either. Have mercy on us! They other ranger talked some sense into the first and they popped the car door, gave us a blanket, and army rations. To date that is the best PB&J sandwich I ever had. I don't care that it was preserved enough for space travel. We slept four hours then hiked the trail backward at 6 AM and only about a mile in found our backpack at the bottom of the cliff, with rocks showing us the trail to just go back and forth along a wide sloped trail to get down . Apparently other hiker's had broken ankles scaling that cliff. Later in Moab, Several other mishaps like breaking a bike chain mid desert trails and part of our bike rack lfying off the top of the car rounded out that trip ... but Katie liked the way I didn't freak out or get angry in crisis. And I liked protecting her.
I won't detail all of our stories over the last 5 years, as many of you have heard and been a part of them, but there are many (like this picture from The Blue Lagoon in Iceland). Many many good ones, some challenging ones; but all have grown us closer and more trusting in each other. Katie and I plan to continue to take the time out of our daily lives and make time to be together. We still have five more years before we can (possibly) live together, but we couldn't wait any longer to become one.
Why get married now, when we can't live together for another 5 years? Lots of reasons, actually. When I met Katie, she wanted a 1 Corinthians love (i.e., "Love is patient, love is kind ..."). Through my bible studies, I learned what it means to be man in God's eyes, and his calling for marriage. "The LORD God said, 'It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him.'" (Genesis 2:18). It starts in Genesis and there is much more that we turn to to build our marriage upon ... Katie is my best friend. She has my complete trust. She plays so many roles in my life and all of them with consistent honesty and an unwavering commitment and loyalty. I love every aspect of her personality and heart. As we make decisions for the future, we want to make them together - career and retirement plans are not to far off. I have no idea what the future holds. Where I will be doing or where. The only thing I do know is I will be doing it with Katie, and this brings me such peace and joy ... And so while 10 years is a long time to be apart, going back to another biblical story, "Jacob loved Rachel, so he said to Laban, 'I will work seven years for you if you will allow me to marry your daughter Rachael." He did, "But it seemed like a very short time because he loved Rachael very much." (Genesis 29:18, 20b) He ended up having to wait seven more (total 14) and similarly, because of my love for Katie, I will wait as long as I have to.