My Love

This is how I met my first love.

My Mom always drove my brother and I to school. I was 13 years old and it was the beginning of my 8th grade year. My first year at the Jr. High. My friend Brandy who also lived in Mallard Point rode the bus to and from school. And I thought it would be fun to ride with her. That would give us more time for girl-talk and cheating on homework. So I asked my mom if I could ride the bus. I remember her being surprised.

Why would you want to ride the bus? Why, indeed? It doesn't make much sense now but then it did.

That first morning, having to get up at 5:45 am was terrible. And when it came time to hesitantly walk up the steps of the bus and looked into all the bus riders faces, I zeroed in on my friend. I sat by Brandy and we started where we left off the day before. Laughing and gossiping like girls do.

After school, Brandy's stop to get off was well before mine. So I would always sit quietly by myself until we reached my house.

I had been riding the bus a few weeks when one afternoon, he plopped down in the seat next to me, placed his hand on my leg, and asked me some silly question.

I, to this day, could not tell you what he asked me. Or my response. My eyes were locked on his hand. On my leg. I was torn from being utterly outraged or amused at his forwardness.

I had seen this boy before. He was taller than the rest, with blond curly hair, cute freckles, and a confident smirk on his absolutely gorgeous face.

I didn't take his flirting seriously, though.

But he sat by me the next day. And the next. And the next. Each time, I liked him more.

I fell for his ability to make people laugh, his self-confidence, his 'I don't give a damn' attitude. He had charm. He could make me laugh, cry, yell in frustration. No one had ever affected me that way.

I can still remember that feeling. It is a feeling only a child in love can feel. Without the weight of the world on their shoulders, without responsibilities and realities of the way life really is. Just free to love.

If I sit and try really hard to go back and remember, I am overwhelmed. I loved him.

Sometimes when I am outside at night, I smell the grass and abruptly I will remember the way I felt the nights I snuck out to meet him. The way the grass smelled as I ran through it to see him.

Of course, being so young it didn't last. We got caught sneaking out so my dad didn't like him and his mom didn't care for me (back then!). His family eventually moved to Bull Shoals. I continued on in MH.

I dated other boys. But none of them compared to him.

I think things had to work out the way they did in order for us to be together now. I knew even back then that we would be together forever. It felt like we were supposed to be.

We were great friends through high school, but college is when we saw each other every day. And so began, the lunches at El Charro's and friday night dates, but that's another story.

I'm so glad I have him.

Oh, how I love my Chase.