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| The Story of Us |
| by Jenna |
I'll never forget the day that Dave and I met. It was second semester of senior year of high school, actually, to be more exact, it was February 24, 2002, a Sunday. I was going to work at Taco Bell (the lunch rush, just as I did every Sunday) that morning, and I just had a feeling when I woke up that something special was going to happen that day.
I got to work and punched in. My manager Jenn looked stressed and came up to me: "Jenna, help me out. I've still got to go make a deposit and go to Pawtucket for soft taco wraps. Help me train the new guy, would you?" I didn't know we had a new guy to train, but I said yes. After all, she was my manager. She said, "He's doing the dishes. Show him how to fry Chalupas, but first take out the trash." I started lugging the heavy bags towards the back door, when all of a sudden a guy I had never seen before appeared. "Want some help with that?"
"No," I said, "I can do it." I looked him square in the eye and told him my name. "I'm Jenna," I said.
"I'm Dave," he said, and shook my hand. He had a firm handshake but I could tell how gentle his hands were already. His eyes were smiling and a beautiful warm brown.
I took the trash out, thinking all the while about Dave. When I got back inside, I told him I had to show him how to fry Chalupas. To my surprise, he remembered my name, and watched me intently as I showed him how to make Chalupas. Since our manager was gone, we talked. He told me about himself, how he was joining the Navy and leaving in August, and how he liked the movie Blade and the computer game Delta Force, and how he would be 18 in two months from the next day (April 25) I told him how I was going to college in August and how I liked to cook and how my favorite TV show was Saturday Night Live. We talked for about an hour, until Jenn came back. For the rest of the day, we made excuses to ask each other for help or for me to show him how to do something.
I waited for him to punch out that day after I did. He had his bike with him, I noted, and I had my father's Mitsubishi, the first day I had been able to drive to work. He told me it was nice to meet me and he'd see me next week. I felt something special between us, and throughout that next week it was hard for me to concentrate on anything but Dave. I talked to my friend online, who hinted that Dave liked me too.
The next Saturday, Dave was working with me again. We talked as we had the previous time we had both worked together, but we both found more excuses to be near each other. Finally, he asked me if he could have a ride to work the next day. I told him yes, and he asked me for my phone number. I gave it to him and he gave me his. I told him I'd call him that night.
That night I was babysitting, but after the kids were in bed I grabbed the phone and called him. We talked for two hours about everything and nothing, and then he asked me to be his girlfriend. I said yes.
Things were wonderful after that (they still are!) as Dave and I grew to know each other better than we knew ourselves. Our first "date" was in my kitchen, making cookies and watching Air Force One.
I'll never forget the night we first kissed- March 12, 2002. We had gone to a chowder supper at my church with my family, and then went back to my house. We were in my room, picking out a book to read to my stepbrother and stepsister (who are 5 and 6) before they went to bed. We were standing in my room and he kissed me- a moment that seemed to last forever because it was so beautiful. Neither one of us could deny our feelings for each other any longer- we were falling in love.
The next months were idyllic. Dave and I were inseparable. We went to movies, out to eat, to Boston one day, but mostly we would just be at one of our houses, hanging out and talking, kissing here and there, and holding each other. I treasured every moment of it, and I know Dave did too. It was hard to keep us away from one another, and Dave was soon "adopted" into my family, who grew to love him as well.
High school graduation came, and with it, a perfect senior prom (Dave and I went to different schools so it was mine that we went to) and memories that we will tell to our children one day.
We were now high school graduates and the reality of the future began to set in. We enjoyed the rest of June and all of July fully, cherishing every moment spent together. We told each other how much we loved each other often, and made plans. Dave proposed to me at the end of July, and of course, I said yes. I knew that this was the man I wanted to spend the rest of my life loving.
August rolled in, and with it, Dave's departure for the Navy. The day he left for boot camp, I went to the recruiting station, holding back my tears, and told him how much I loved him and how much I always would. He told me that he would love me forever. I made him promise to be brave, do his job well, and come home to me safely. I had hoped that that moment would never come, but when it did, I handled it like the adult I was slowly becoming.
The first week and a half after Dave was gone was torture. I missed him so much (I still do) and all I wanted was to hear his voice say he loved me. The very night he left, he called me from Boston to talk. I almost cried when I heard his voice, heard him tell me he loved me. My own squeaked a little when I told him that I loved him too. The next day, before his flight left for Chicago (he was going to Great Lakes) he sent me an e-mail telling me how he wanted his Angel (his name for me) to be in the best of spirits when she went to college, and how much he loved me. He called me right before he boarded the plane and told me how much he loved me. I started to cry as I told him that I loved him too. It was the first time I had cried since the day before.
His first letter from boot camp came about two weeks after he got there, and from then on I have gotten at least one (sometimes more) a week. He was only allowed to write on Sundays, but he always makes time to write. He tells me how much he loves me in every letter and how he cannot wait to see my beautiful face once more. I write him every day (obviously I have much more free time) and tell him how much I love him and how proud of him I am, and how much I miss him.
Just last weekend, I went to Great Lakes to see Dave graduate from boot camp. All throughout the ceremony, I watched him, trying to hold myself back from running up to him and wrapping my arms around him. He didn't see me, and, like the sailor he is, kept his military bearing. When he did see me towards the end, I could read in his eyes everything that he felt, and I returned his gaze with everything I felt. When the ceremony was over, we flew into each other's arms and held on tight, looked into each other's eyes, and the 9 weeks of separation melted away. Dave had liberty for the rest of the weekend, so we spent it together, and every moment was blissful. He is now in Pensacola for further training (A school) right now, and it is easier for us to touch each other through the distance. He can call whenever he gets a second, and he also has more access to the Internet. We love each other more than ever now, if that is possible to love each other more! But we do, and our wedding is tentatively planned for summer 2004.
We tell each other that this is the beginning of the rest of our lives together. We share a love so deep that nothing can sever it. The past was beautiful, the present is wonderful, and the future, our future, is blissful.
Dave, I love you so much, my sunshine- always remember that. Be brave, do your job the best you can, and come home to me safely! I can't wait to be in your arms again!
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