The Crazy Key Family: Special Day

I am a sucker for anniversaries. I always think, at this time last year... Or at this time 5 years ago...
Please indulge me while I stroll down memory lane. Since I cannot celebrate "our special day" this year with David, I am just going to tell you about it.

So today, I am thinking:
On this day, 16 years ago, I was student teaching. But David invited me to have supper in Dahlonega with him. (Y'all know I robbed the cradle and graduated before him!) It was a special day because it was the one year anniversary of when David gave me his lavalier. So I finished with my classes and headed from McIntosh High School all the way up GA 400 to meet him for supper. I kind of knew something was up because a couple weeks before, David had talked with my parents. Alone. And after their talk, Mom made a funny comment about finally getting rid of me...

So I met him at his dorm. I parked my car and hopped into his car, presumably to go and eat. But first, he drove me back to the parking lot. At the time, it was called the Green zone. And it was the place where we first met. My roommate and her boyfriend had set us up so he could go with me to a sorority formal, and I knew he was amazing because he agreed to go before even meeting me.

Ah formals! College was so much fun!

I was totally unprepared to meet him then. I had a HUGE zit on my forehead. The kind of blemish that today, years later, he jokes about the extra nose growing out of my forehead. But not on that day. We shook hands and chatted, all while I was nonchalantly trying to hide my forehead. Mom said on that day when I told her the story, "Wouldn't it be funny if you married him and told your children that story about how you met?" Indeed.

So we parked in the parking lot and he handed me a red scrap of paper that said, "We started here in the parking lot. Your head was a little red and uncertain."

Then we drove over behind Donovan Hall, the dorm where we were RAs together during summer school. I was the RA of some super cool NGC girls. And he was the RA to the GA Tech Football Team who had to attend summer school with us that year because of the 1996 Olympics being in Atlanta. We spent a lot of time hanging out every night, just talking and laughing.

We walked to our "spot," and he handed me another red scrap of paper. It said, "In rough, difficult times and places, our love grew."

We hopped back in the car and started driving. We ended up on Crown Mountain. This was another landmark at NGC. The cadets always ran up the hill on the last day of Frog Week. It was a long standing tradition. And when my parents were at North Georgia, my Daddy gave my Momma his lavalier on top of crown mountain. My sweet D knew that, and so that is where he gave me his lavalier.

We walked off to the side and he handed me another red scrap of paper. It said, "On the mountain, we went higher to the next step, your lavalier."

My lavalier candlelighting

We were back in the car and started driving. The way we were heading, I thought we might be going to Pine Valley, a popular place for parties and socials. But then he turned off.

We were headed to Amicalola State Park, a favorite spot for us to hang out and sometimes study and picnic. He drove to the top and we walked out onto the bridge over the falls.

He handed me another red scrap of paper. It said, "Now we are higher than before, and you now have all of my heart."

It was at that point that I realized that the scraps of red paper were actually like a puzzle that he made. And now that I had all of them, they formed a heart!

I can be a little slow...

He got down on one knee right there on the bridge and popped out the ring. Strangers were gasping and watching and giggling!

I was crying and so excited, he said, "Will you marry me?" And I immediately hugged him. He put the ring on my finger. And I think we were back in the car before he said, "Um, I don't think you answered me. Will you?" And I said, "YES! OF COURSE!"

I so wish we had a picture of that night, but that was in the dark ages before cell phone cameras.

Here is one of our engagement photos, though.

Infants, we were!