I wondered if he was EVER going to ask me to marry him… and I’d only known him four and a half months. CRAZY!! Let’s go back a little….
I was 20 years old, and thought I knew everything. Well… I thought I knew what I wanted to do with my life. I was going to continue in college and get my English degree, then I was going to go overseas and teach English as a second language. My husband would be a missionary and I would teach English and we would live in some third-world country and be surrounded by lots of our babies and babies we had adopted from the country we were living in. I’d be able to speak whatever language was spoken by the people there, and we would live happily ever after. Spreading the story of Jesus and working together to improve the lives of other people. THIS was the dream of my 20 year old self. THIS is what I thought God had planned for me.
I was at a bible study in the beginning of the school year in 1998. I was there with my boyfriend (Let’s call him Joe). We had been dating only a couple of weeks, I think. He worked at a car shop where they installed windows in cars and trucks. My window had some scratches, so he told me I could get a new windshield and I wouldn’t have to pay anything because insurance would cover it. I don’t know why I remember this because I’m not even sure that’s what happened, but I know I took my car there and I got a new window. When I came to pick it up, he was introducing me to some of his co-workers. I guess it’s safe to say it was common knowledge that I had a “type”. I liked bald heads and goatees. Joe and I had been friends for a while before we started dating, so I’m sure he knew this about me. There was a large group of us who hung out quite a bit during this time, and I’m sure they all knew this about me. So… Joe, who didn’t have a bald head or a goatee, thought it was really funny to point out bald guys to me and ask if I thought they were cute. He wasn’t doing it out of jealousy or anything like that. Really, I think we were just better as friends, and now that we’d added kisses into the mix, we were just friends who kissed each other. Where was I, oh yeah… I was picking up my car from the shop and he’s showing me around. His boss, probably in his late 50’s, was bald and had a goatee… Immediately, I suspect what’s coming as we walk up. Joe introduces us and then says TO HIS BOSS! “She likes bald guys with goatees… don’t you?” Gesturing to me!! I was so embarrassed, but I just laughed and didn’t really answer him. I got over it pretty quickly I guess because I’m not even sure I said anything to him about it afterwards. I just thought he was weird to bringing that up all the time.
So, now back to the bible study group. Joe and I walk up and I notice immediately that there is a new car in the parking lot with an Atlanta Braves license plate (I love the braves, so this caught my attention). I also notice there are a few new people in the buidling when we walk in. I’m a junior now, and I assume that the new people must be Freshmen. I also notice that one of them is bald… with a goatee… he is hot! But I’m with Joe, so I just appreciate that he’s cute and move on. Not Joe… he walks over to introduce himself, calls me over to introduce me, and then… he did it… he said “she likes bald guys with goatees!” I turned right around and walked over to the bible study leader to ask some random question to get away from Joe and Cute Dude!
After the bible study we were all sitting around talking and I found out he was a junior also and had been living at the Wesley Foundation (The building right next door!). He was a business major, and that Atlanta Braves car did belong to him. Okay… he’s got a lot going for him, but I’m with Joe.
Beginning of October 1998 (a couple of months later)… Joe and I break up, and now we are friends who no longer kiss… Neither of us are very sad about this. I know I’m not, and I know he’s not because the day he told me he wanted to break up with me I went to a concert and he was there with another girl. At least he told me a few hours before he went out with someone else. Anyway… I’m not bitter at all… really….
Halloween night 1998 – I was a peanut M&M and my cousin, Carly, was a plain M&M… or I was plain and she was peanut. It doesn’t matter… what matters is that same car was in the parking lot of the MBSF (Missionary Baptist Student Fellowship). I was excited about doing our canned food drive that night (Food Bank-o-Ween), and excited to be hanging out with my cousin/best friend. We were getting settled in the trailer and ready to be driven around when Cute Dude walked up. He was dressed as Stone Cold Steve Austin (if you didn’t watch WWF/WWE during this time, you should probably google him. He was bald… with a goatee…) So we talked the whole time, and I had so much fun…
We will finish part two with the proposal… unless I ramble too much, then there will be a part three to this story! 🙂
Welcome to my world… it’s pretty great around here!!
Amanda
Always Walking Forward 