Back to what I was saying, this evening took a turn for the better. Eric got off of work, we ran some errands, met with a lovely couple for a short photo shoot, and headed home.
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| Photograph from the pregnancy shoot this evening |
My banana, turkey sandwich, and chips had worn off and I was starving, as was Eric. We’ve been eating at home, but decided to splurge and order a pizza. As Ardmore would have it, the order got messed up and confusion ran ramped, so rather than the planned delivery, we had to go pick up the pizza ourselves (which was fine, we were just tired and thought we’d try delivery for once). Upon picking up our delicious, bubbling hot pizza pie, Eric was hit with another one of his spontaneous crazy moods and with a raise of the eyebrow said, “You wanna eat IN the car!?” Now, for most people this is no big deal, nothing out of the ordinary. But we’d planned, as usual, to get our dinner and return home to eat. I reminded him that we didn’t have drinks, so with a smile he suggested we go to the nearby gas station and just buy some….and I could get an icee (which I’m hopelessly addicted to at the moment, along with snow cones). “What!!? Order a pizza, eat IN the car, AND get an icee….this was turning out to be a fun evening!” My sister would have a heart attack if this is what her ‘fun’ evenings consisted of…but for us this was spontaneous and exciting. We got our drinks and as we skipped back to our pieced-together-barely-hanging-on car…Eric’s head was filled with yet ANOTHER crazy idea! Next door was the Carmike 5 Theater (which is closed). The theater has been stripped and gutted and is set to be demolished this next week. So with a twinkle in his eye he said, “Want to eat in the parking lot of the Carmike? It’s our last chance.” As we pulled into the dark, vacant lot my heart was filled with memories and love…this is where Eric and I had our first date. Now it’s about to be demolished…crashing to the ground and never to be seen again. I can still see him. I remember where he was standing and what he was wearing. He had both of his hands in his pockets and his cheeks were blushing red with nervousness. His Levi’s and his nice leather shoes dawned their faces, along with an ivory colored, long sleeved shirt. His hair was combed and he smelled good. I remember asking Mom to park and let me walk up to the theater, rather than having her drop me off at the door. I remember walking up to him and feeling so nervous I could die. He was so cute, and very noticeably about to faint, haha! We watched the movie “DareDevil” and my sister and her boyfriend took us home afterwards. The person driving took a sharp turn on the way home and I was sliding all over the slippery back seat. Eric put his arm around me and tucked me by his side. I remember every single tingly feeling that rushed over my skin. This was something different. Something special. That was over 8 years ago. February 21, 2003. Here we were now, sitting in the empty parking lot of the dark, vacant building staring at the spot we first met for our first date. Eating pizza out of the box, windows down, cool breeze blowing through, married and pregnant. College degree. Eric working full-time. Living back in Ardmore in our own house. Wow. If you’d told me that very first night that 8 years later I’d be sitting in that parking spot possessing all of those things, I’d have thought you were crazy. Little did we know we were meant to be, would fall madly in love, and be about to bring a beautiful baby girl into the world together. How lovely. How wonderful. We sat in the car and ate our pizza and drank our icees and stared at the building, talking about all the sweet and crazy memories we could think of. Things that no one knows about, and things that we will never forget. Being 15 years old and falling in love. Sneaking around the corner in high school to give each other a goodbye kiss at the end of every day. It seems like a million years ago. I can’t imagine what life is going to look like in 8 more years. Anyhow, after enjoying the beautiful breeze and eating and talking, Eric realized we were basically on a date. The first date we’ve been on since moving back to town. It was an evening that I simply could not have planned…spontaneous and sweeter than sugar. All of those young feelings of love and romance came rushing back into our hearts and we were as happy as two lovebirds. I cherish evenings like this. They bring you back down to Earth and help you to remember all the things the good Lord has blessed you with. Now, my self-awareness brings to my attention that, yes, this could all be chalked up to me being pregnant and mushy-gushy emotional, but whatever I owe the pleasure, I’m thankful. It was a much needed evening and I, once again, feel more in love than I’ve ever felt in my entire life.
Not being able to shimmy my wedding ring on isn’t so bad in looking at the big picture. Maybe I’ll just tie a string around my ring finger and call it a day. Life’s about not sweating the small stuff, right?
"Time you enjoy wasting, was not wasted."
-John Lennon
All Our Love,
JenEric
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