Okay everyone. Here it is. You've been asking for it - the story of how I met my sweet Grady. And yup, that's me and Grady up there, in the drawing that I gave him for Valentines Day. I love what it says. And I also love this particular memory of me and him kissing on the beach in Hawaii with some random lady taking our photograph and saying, "Awwh... that's a sweet one!" I wish I could live in that moment forever. Okay... the story...
Of course it starts out with the very unpleasant loss of my husband which is the most difficult thing I've yet to deal with in my life so far. The grief process is an incredibly difficult journey that takes a long time get through. It took me over two years to get back to a place where I felt normal again or at least to a place where I felt like I was actually ready to let LOVE in again. There were days where I wondered if I'd EVER be ready. And there were days where I didn't WANT to be ready. But finally, I decided that it wasn't fair to myself or to my children to deprive myself of LOVE and that I needed to get back in the game. So... I started searching for IT... for HIM... and quickly found that Creston doesn't exactly have a plethora of available bachelors ready and waiting to knock down my door.
I decided to keep an open mind about the dating thing. My choices were limited, so I tried to give everyone a fair chance. So, basically, whoever invested an interest in me, I gave a serious look at. But, after a few lunch dates, facebook messages, awkward encounters, and miscellaneous bouquets from random strangers that I didn't even like, I started to wonder if I was in fact ready. It seemed like more of a chore than the wonderful experience and second chance that I thought it would be...
I guess because I'd been married before and now had two little girls to worry about, my standards were much higher than when I was in the dating scene many years ago. Some of the guys that approached me were nice, but just didn't have their act together. Some of the guys, had it together, but weren't nice. Some of the guys had too many kids for me to handle, or some of them thought that I had too many kids for them to handle. Some of the guys were nice and had it together, but I just wasn't attracted to them for whatever reason. And some of the guys were just plain WEIRD. I actually started to believe that maybe there was something wrong with me. Like, maybe I wasn't ready after all, or maybe I had turned gay since my husband died, but just hadn't realized it yet. I mean, there were all sorts of guys hanging about and NONE of them were appealing! So, after a short, frustrating search for Mr. Right, I ended up taking the advice from a good friend and stopped looking for HIM. She assured me that he would show up when I least expected him to (and she was right).
Yup, just when I had given up on the idea of finding LOVE, HE showed up! I was at a friend's house for a get together, when a mysterious guy, hiding under his baseball cap, quietly walked through the door. He caught my eye right away, with his baggy jeans and handsome smile, and I think the world stopped turning for just a second while we made eye contact. Even though he looked tough, I could tell he was sweet, and I was totally, TOTALLY attracted to his guy INSTANTLY. His name was Grady and let's face it, even his name is cool!
Later on in the evening, I was standing in the kitchen talking to a friend and also blocking the hallway, when he came up behind me and whispered "excuse me" in my ear. As soon as I felt his warm breath and his low voice on my neck, I knew he was the one - it shivers down my spine. This was the first guy that had turned my crank in over two years and my immediate thought was "Yay - I'm not Gay!" and then my next thought was, "I gotta get the guts to talk to this guy before it's too late"
So, after a few martinis hit my system, I ending up confessing my attraction to him but also admitted to him right off the bat that I had two kids and that I was looking for a relationship, not a fling. The word "relationship" usually scares any man off and if that doesn't work the word "kids" usually works for sure! But, he seemed totally okay with everything I said and he told me that his job was ending soon and he was searching for a reason to stay in Creston (and of course I secretly wished that it would be for me). He also told me that he loved children (even though he didn't have any yet) and that he wanted ten children of his own one day which was a bit of a relief because that meant he was okay with my kids. I did find out later that he was lying about wanting ten kids though... THANK FRICKING GOD!
Anyway, we talked and laughed all night and had an incredible time getting to know each other. We were both pretty shy though and I had this horrible feeling that if I didn't act on this that I would never see him again. He mentioned moving away in the next few weeks if he didn't find work. So... I did something that I've NEVER done in my life and was completely out of my character. I wrote my phone number down on a piece of paper and handed it to him at the end of the night. But, because I'd had a few too many martinis, this is what it said:
I'm not sure if I'm drunk, or you're cute
402-9586
He actually phoned me only minutes after he arrived home that night, at three in the morning (after trying three other phone numbers first because he couldn't read my hand writing). We had a good chat and I couldn't believe that he actually called. Months down the road he showed me the little piece of paper that he had kept with my phone number because he thought it was "cute". We had a good laugh about what it said.
I’m so happy to have met him. He is such a sweetheart and so good to me and my girls. With all that me and my girls have been through, we couldn't have asked for a more understanding, sympathetic, patient, sweet, and caring guy. Thank god I didn't give up on myself. Turns out there wasn't a think wrong with me, I just hadn't found the right guy. And when I did, I knew right away it was HIM.
I love you honey.
