One of my favorite things about this job (both of my jobs in fact) is hearing other people’s stories. The big events that made them who they are. But really, it’s the little moments that make up a life. It’s the moments that build on each other to lead you to the person that will have the most effect on who you are as a human. The person who will help you leave a legacy on this earth. The anticipation. The excitement. The uncertainty. And oh yes, the awkwardness. I love love stories. And it’s about time I shared ours.
And trust me, awkward is really the best word for this one.
The first time I met David was one of the most important days of my life. Completely memorable to me in every way. Life altering. And yet, David doesn’t remember meeting me at all.
It was October 4th, 2008 and we were both at fall retreat with CRU. Middle of nowhere camp Powhatan. We both went with the hope of making more friends during that first month of school, not wanting to miss out on anything. The weekend was filled with games, food, staying in some serious bug filled cabins, and worship.
That morning had been emotional for me. But hours later, I was decked out in tie dye (my wardrobe of choice freshman year) and happily participating in free time. I remember laying out on the lawn in the afternoon sun with my friend, under the flag poles…making friendship bracelets. (Because, clearly, I was really cool) For some reason this was my “in” with this new group of people. I was the friendship bracelet girl. So at one point, I bopped over to another friend to ask him what color he wanted for his bracelet (I can’t stress enough how cool I was). He was talking to David. Who promptly inserted himself in the conversation and asked me to make him a bracelet.
“Can you make me one too?”
“Um…hello, I’m Kaitlyn”
“I’m David. Can I have one too??”
Of course, I’m paraphrasing. I think he was eating a hot dog at the time. He was definitely wearing a plaid yellow coat. (The coolness continues)
*Below, Facebook quality photos of us from Fall Retreat. We were basically different people back then and it makes me laugh! (yep, I’ve got blonde hair)
I think I mumbled something back and walked away quickly. When I got back to my spot under the flag pole, my friend asked who I’d been talking to.
“Some weird guy. He asked me for a bracelet!”
And that was that. We agreed it was very weird and moved on with our freshman banter.
Like I mentioned earlier, this was an important day in my life. Later that evening, the Lord showed Himself to me in a way I’d never experienced before. I put my faith in Jesus that night and I haven’t looked back since. Everything in my life changed. I was made new.
So a few weeks later, it wasn’t amiss that I was trying to use my newness and confidence to bring others into the community I’d found in CRU. I saw a guy standing alone in the lobby of cook hall after our weekly meeting and went to introduce myself. It was David. Clad in his usual beanie and holding his long board.
“Hi I’m Kaitlyn. Are you a freshman?”
“Nope. I’m a transfer. I’m David.”
“Oh yeah! We met at fall retreat!”
“No…I don’t think so”
And then I recounted our whole awkward meeting a few weeks before, to which he responded with a simple but confident “no.”
My future husband did not remember me.
Continued here : That time he didn’t remember me.
note* I thought it’d be fun to recount our love story here on the blog. It’s funny, it’s most definitely awkward, and it tells you a little bit about our not so stellar beginnings. Also, it’s one of my favorite stories to tell. Also, when I told David my idea he said “Oh noooooo.” I’ll be posting updates every Friday for the next few weeks! And I’m politely asking that you do not judge the photos because they are most definitely pulled from facebook and terrible, terrible quality :]
