A Tale of Two Nerds…

Gather around, friends, and let me tell you a tale.

Thirteen years ago today, I found myself headed to the Thornwood speech tournament near Chicago.  From what I remember this was a fairly uneventful speech tournament.  I was doing Extemporaneous and Impromptu speaking and I wasn’t really all that good at it yet.  As is speechie custom, after the tournament is over the coaches would hand out the critiques which were provided by the judges of your rounds.  Many of the judges were often asses and it is common to have a mixed bag of reviews to go over on the long bus ride home.

If my memory serves me correctly, I was sitting with my good friend Anna Poplett.  I don’t remember the exact circumstance (a social or speech related conversion needed to take place, perhaps?), but something occurred that required me to move my seat.  There were a few seats available, but I opted to sit down next to the red-haired ultra-nerdy girl that I get the privilege of spending the rest of my life with.  I remember this part clearly though: the bus ride was cold and eventually I worked up the nerve to put my arm around her, perhaps the most suave move I had mustered the courage for up to that point.  For some reason she made me that special kind of heart-poundingly nervous that you’re certain the other person can hear it rattling in your rib cage, and I can still remember the relief when she cuddled up next to me.

The early days of our relationship were fun, she had introduced me to Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy and we had all of the normal speech team related conversions in common.   Over the weeks, months, years, and now more that a decade I still find out new and awesome things about Tasha, and I’m a lucky guy to have her.

It’s funny to think back about all of the interesting elements that went right that night on that yellow bus to put the two of us together.  I believe that we would’ve gotten together eventually some other way if not that night, but that’s the way it happened!

Technically, we officially dating the following Monday after the tournament so we mark 11/18 as our dating anniversary.  We went to some ice cream shop at the bottom of East Campus hill that no longer exists for our first official date.  It was in the small plaza next to the video store and I think it is a law firm now.

But I digress.  I’ll just close this long, sappy tale with this:  I’m an exceedingly lucky guy to get to date and later marry my high school sweetheart.  It is hard to believe it has been thirteen years!  I love you, honey!  Here’s to thirteen more!