Love story continued…..

So after that first kiss the whirlwind romance started. Terence asked me out that weekend and we had our first official date at Chuck E Cheese & The Olive Garden. I have no clue why we chose to go to Chuck E Cheese, but I do remember we had a blast and Terence is awesome at ski ball! I drove that night and somehow turned the wrong way down the street with oncoming traffic. Oops! I didn’t scare him off thank goodness! Ha…ha…

He dropped me off that night and I remember thinking what a wonderful time I had. Yes, Terence wasn’t my usual type….but he had a way of getting me to open up to him about things I had never told any other guy before. Needless to say that entire summer we were inseparable. We spent every day and evening together. We were so much in love. I’d like to say I “knew” he was the one from the first date, but I didn’t, I think I knew after the first month though.

I remember our first Valentine’s Day like it was yesterday. We had only been dating about a month. Terence had just sold his beloved Camaro & his only means of transportation. He had fallen behind on payments and wasn’t being responsible, so it had to be sold. I picked him up that night and as I turned the corner I saw him standing there in his blue jeans and plaid shirt holding three roses. The sweetest memory ever. Even if he didn’t have a car anymore (sigh) I had already fallen for him….hard. You know how it is at 18 years old….we had a case of puppy love.

He had several sweet friends in college…ahem…Ashley….who let him borrow their car to come see me. I also picked him up if he needed to go somewhere, but that was okay because we were together most of the time anyway. A few months down the road Terence bought me a promise ring. I was so excited and proud to show it off! We knew we were in love and wanted to get married…..eventually….but we were still very young.

We both finished the first year of college. When I say finish I mean we were barely hanging in there. Both of us had let our studies slide. All those late night make out sessions and phone calls took their toll. Don’t get the wrong idea…we weren’t shacking up or anything! Basically we both had to make major changes if we wanted to stay in school & stay together.

Terence chose to stay with me in Arkansas that summer and decided not to return home to Texas. He got an apartment with my best friend’s boyfriend & worked several blue collar jobs that summer. By the end of the summer Terence had to make a decision on what to do with his life. His grades weren’t good enough to maintain his scholarship for school & he hated the jobs he was working……

So he made a decision, a life changing one, he decided to join the Air Force.

In the fall of 2000 Terence enlisted in the military and we began a long distance relationship….it would be one of the most challenging times we would encounter in our relationship, but it was also a major stepping stone so we could begin our lives together.

To be continued…..