Before we get to Kevin, there is some story to tell. Because, you see, I lived quite a life before he ever entered the picture. That is sort of the point. It took me a long while to get to the point where I was ready to date him, much less think about marriage. I went in to college with some serious expectations and plans about where I would be in a specific amount of time. Let’s be honest here — I was 18 and I did not have a CLUE. So much lay ahead of me. More than I could imagine. More than my plans would accommodate.
That autumn was a learning time for me. I had never been away from home before and for the first time in my life my parents didn’t know where I was every hour of every day. Your average college kid would have gone buck wild.
Yeah, that’s not what I did.
I spent every Tuesday night at a freshmen girls’ bible study, right after watching Gilmore Girls in my room. That was back when we had the bunny ears and no cable and I had it down to an art. Ten-thirty p.m. and time for Letterman? Up and a little to the right. Anything on The WB (before it became the cursed CW) and you would have to take a sharp turn to the south and way way to the left. And that one was still snowy.
This was also around the time that we bought that ginormous bag of Fritos scoops that lasted 4 and 1/2 months. But that’s neither here nor there.
It was the semester I did homework, mostly because it was math and it was the only math course I was going to have to take and I was going to pass that class, by George!
I was starting to make friends, in my classes and on my hall. Heather and I grew closer and it was nice to finally have that sister-like relationship with someone. My history with female friends is a pretty rough one. Very few times in my life have I found one that stuck around. Having a roommate was almost like a marriage — I knew she was going to be there (unless she up and decided to move out) and I knew that I always had someone to talk to, even though we were very different people in many respects.
Late that October, we both fell very ill.
It hurt to move. Breathing seemed impossible. We were stuck in our beds for days. Colt, Heather’s boyfriend, came to our door and peeked in just long enough to hand us some medicine he had bought at the drug store.
We had the flu.
On the third day, I rose up from my pile of Mentholatum scented sheets, brushed away all the Kleenex, and placed a foot on the floor.
“Liz?” Heather called from the top bunk.
“What?”
“Where are you going?”
“To class.”
“Are you okay?”
“Yeah. I’m just going to take a shower and head to my 9 o’clock.”
“Okay.”
I started across the room toward our shared bathroom. The floor slipped away beneath my feet and I collapsed onto our chaise lounge.
“Liz?”
“I fell down.”
“Maybe you shouldn’t go to class.”
Being that that was the only time in the history of us rooming together that Heather suggested such wild behavior, I agreed and stayed in another day. I think we were sick for a whole week.
~
While we were sick, I received a phone call. From a boy. Asking me to go somewhere with him. I knew what this was. My parents had encouraged a relationship (in their own non-intrusive way) since I was about 14-years-old. Finally, here it was.
I agreed to what sounded like a date and proceeded to freak out over the next few weeks.
The day before the big date was my birthday. I spent it with a small group of good friends at a John Mayer concert in Oklahoma City. The night ended abruptly though when one of my friends received a phone call and learned that her grandfather had passed away.
I don’t know what it was, maybe the way the night went, lack of sleep, maybe God…but something didn’t feel right the next day as I spent my time with the other young gentleman. And don’t get me wrong, he was a gentleman. He was everything my family wanted for me and I wanted to like him. So much.
There’s something about knowing that a person is right for you, knowing that they fit the description of what you’ve been looking for. For a couple of years after this date I kicked myself for being such an idealist, thinking that because this guy wasn’t everything I had ever hoped for, he wasn’t good for me. Really, for a while, I wondered if I had thrown away a future that God had intended for me. Not long after this date I gave up on my idealism and decided to start settling — because all relationships are work, right?
I gave up my dreams and started settling…big time.
Oklahoma girl through-and-through. Writer, aspiring domestic goddess and totalitarian dictator. Taking on the world one carb-induced coma at a time. Founder of GodlyGals, a ministry for women established in 2002. Co-host of Picture Shows & Petticoats. 
