A Decade

Something significant happened in the lives of Brian and me 10 years ago today. I'm not quite sure what that significant event was, but I have two ideas:

1. We met 10 years ago today.

2. We went on our 1st outing together 10 years ago today.

Either way, Brian and I have been together for 10 years to the day, and I'd like to revisit our how-we-met moment. Please allow me to indulge myself.

It was the Spring semester; the beginning of my senior year, January 1999. I was finishing my "must-have" classes with an Environmental Biology class. Science was not my strong subject and the class was not high on my list. Nevertheless, I was a good student, so I attended those first days with excitement that this was to be my last Spring semester as an undergrad.

You can imagine my HUGE disappointment when, after 2-3 classes, I realized that I was a senior surrounded by....wait....here it comes.....FRESHMEN!! Oh, the horror!! The class was freakin' huge and the majority of the occupants were only 18!! I was so disgusted by their immaturity, their lack of ideals and by how they appeared to be all of 15.

You can imagine my even HUGIER (not a word, I know) disappointment when the Biology professor announced on the 4th or 5th day of class that, to make it easier for her to identify students, she was going to make assigned seats. ASSIGNED SEATS??!!! Are you kidding me??!! I'm thinking, "This class just keeps getting better and better! Here I am, a senior, and I'm going to have an assigned seat like I'm 8th grade or something." There was one perk to the deal: the professor was going to allow each person to list on an index card, among other things, who we would not like to sit beside. In big letters I wrote: I DO NOT WANT TO BE SEATED NEXT TO A FRESHMAN!

Done. Now that that potential catastrophe was over, I decided to skip class on the 1st day of the assigned seating (that'll show 'em!)

Day 2 of assigned seating: I'm in Julie's car headed to class. She's driving and we stop at a campus convenient store for drinks. As we get back into the car, I notice this guy walking down the sidewalk towards the building. He notices me, too, and we smile. He's just the kind of guy that gets my attention: Hat pulled down low to cover the eyes. Cool, but not cocky. I immediately make a note of him. Julie parks in front of the building and we head inside. The guy is at the bottom of the stairs and he holds the door open for Julie and me. I say to him, "Thank you, sir." (Classy, I know.) He smiles and we all enter the building.

Since the class before ours is running late, a number of students in the Biology are sitting around outside of our classroom talking. I notice that this guy is sitting outside of the classroom, too, and I start to wonder if he's in my class. Anyway, Julie and I proceed to be our obnoxious, loud selves. I specifically remember us sitting on a table just yammering away about how assigned seats are for middle-schoolers and that it bordered on travesty that college students were being subjected to the arcane idea.

The class lets out and so it is time for us Environmental Biology students to make our way inside. Mind you, everyone else was present for the 1st day of assigned seating. So, everyone takes their places. In one last protest, I sit with Julie until the last student enters. I am in no hurry to meet my new seat and the people beside which I will be sitting for the rest of the semester.

I begrudgingly go inside and make my way to the seating chart. I see my name next to a "Brian" and attempt to locate this person and my seat from across the room. I can't, because it's a large class, so I just had to trudge in the direction of the seat that appeared to have my name on it.

As I approached my seat, I noticed that the guy that I had seen walking down the sidewalk and the guy that held the door open for me appeared to be the guy that I was seated beside. I stood by the guy and the empty seat and said, "Are you Brian?" He said, "Yeah, are you Suzanne?" I said, "Well, I go by 'Amanda', but, yeah."

So, I sat down, with butterflies in my stomach and proceeded to make small talk with this guy. He informs me that he noticed me the first day of class and that he thought I was attractive. He says that on the 1st day of the assigned seating, he looked around to see where I was sitting but he couldn't find me. He then tells me that after the class started and no one was seated beside him, he hoped that I was "Suzanne" and that I was just absent that day. I'm amused by this guy and his tellings and I am more and more attracted to him. Class starts and we begin to write notes back and forth, asking each other about ourselves.

Then he lays a whopper on me: HE'S A FRESHMAN!! I was appalled, disgusted and I felt betrayed by the professor. I specifically said "no freshman" and that's exactly what I got. I share my sentiment with him and I think this makes him like me even more. He won't admit it, but I know he's always been attracted to my feisty and opinionated side.

Throughout the semester, we made bets on tests. The bets consisted of the person scoring the lower grade taking the higher-grade-receiver to Schlotzsky's. I don't think I had lunch purchased for me that semester (did I mention that I suck at Science?) but I did enjoy every minute with this freshman. Maybe too much. After being warned several times to stop talking to Brian, I was, in the middle of class, told to move to a different seat (don't worry, it was just a row down)! How embarrassing!! Here I am supposed to be representing seniors everywhere, and I'm having to switch seats, while the class is stopped and everyone is watching, because I can't stop talking to him. Not one of my proudest moments.

Brian and I were engaged almost 1 1/2 later (June 9, 2000) on my 22nd birthday and married over 3 years later (June 15, 2002). We've both graduated with our undergraduate and graduate degrees (this feat taking longer for some than others), we've moved to freakin' Arkansas, had dogs, cats and a baby.We've put a dog down, lost a cat, survived law school. A LOT has transpired since January 25, 1999.

I feel truly lucky to have Brian as my husband. He is an amazing spouse, friend, father. He is sincere, intense, caring, humorous, fair, intelligent. He pulls his weight where our child is concerned, which makes me love him even more. I marvel at his insight, wit and sensitivity. Don't get me wrong, his logic, at times, can drive a wife to drink. It can be nearly impossible to argue, much less WIN an argument with him. But he's so understanding and kind that, once the dust has settled, he makes an attempt to right the wrong (even if the wrong was mine).

So, that's my story of the beginning of a decade with Brian. I got more than I bargained for with this freshman. Oh, and the story topper: When Brian and I were in the baggage claim area after returning from our honeymoon,who should we bump into but our Environmental Biology professor! Brian approached her and explained to her our story. She didn't seem to care too much, but it was certainly a memorable experience for us!