The 29-Day Blogging Challenge: J is for Jill, of course…
I’ve mentioned Jill, my wife of over 5 years, many times on this and other blogs. She and I met in university, at a time when I had absolutely no intention of settling down in a stable, long-term relationship. I had just gone back for a Master’s degree and would be moving every four months for co-op work placements, and thus saw little chance – nor interest – in starting what could only become a long-distance relationship for at least a few years… Silly, silly me.
We met at a function one Friday night in November 2000 and within a week had said those three little words that, while not difficult for me to say, cemented the relationship into ’serious and exclusive’ territory. The weird thing was I didn’t feel weird about it. I meant it, she meant it (I can only assume!) it all just fell into place. Since that time I’ve often been amazed at my luck in running into her at a campus bar – I had considered not going, after a hellish school week and having just finished a massive calculus test that evening. Still, I went, and as they say the rest is history.
I had often commented that there was a chance I would be chronically single – at least in the unmarried variety – for the rest of my life. I had relationships, some long-term, some over a long weekend, but never found The One. I dated some great people and gained some great lifelong friends in the process, but just never found that one girl I wanted to be with forever. Not once had I honestly thought about proposing and eventually marrying. (Funny story: The first time I brought Jill home for a family dinner, I introduce her to my grandma who then asks, “Oh, is this the new one?” Gotta love grams…) I was happy being in limited-time relationships, and quite happy to be single as well. And I refused to settle – I didn’t want to be attached to someone with whom I didn’t fall more in love every day. And I wouldn’t want someone to be in a relationship with me if I wasn’t their One. So life rolled on by, sometimes with a hand to hold, sometimes not. I was happy either way.
And then, Jill brings all that to an end. The night after we met I was out with some old buddies and couldn’t stop… well, gushing is the most accurate term. I sounded like a schoolgirl babbling over Justin Bieber. It was a pathetic display of starry-eyed puppy love – I knew it, and damn straight my friends knew it and ripped on me all night. But I didn’t care. I wanted to talk about this girl I had just met, with whom I had a coffee date the next night, and for whom I honestly felt love.
Weird, after one night, but it’s true. And now here we are, 3,410 days later, and I’m writing a pretty revealing, emotional blog entry dedicated to her. Why? Because at work today I had my iTunes on shuffle, and Blue Rodeo’s Lost Together came on. I’ve always loved that song, and we’ve danced to it before – but most importantly it was our first dance as a married couple. So, whilst pondering what to write about this afternoon, I kept coming back to Jill. I figured I would make her the topic anyway, but it might have had a more lighthearted, humourous tone. But Jim Cuddy’s dulcet tones and memories of that awesome day took me down a different path, obviously. And you know what? I’m not embarrased by that. I’m proud to have her around, to wear my honking big-ass wedding ring, to know that the last nine years together are just the beginning. And I’m happier than I ever would have been if I didn’t go out that night.
Previous posts: Introducing the 29-Day Blogging Challenge; A is for Anonymity; B is for Busses; C is for Canada; D is for Dogs;E is for Expatriate; F is for Failure;G is for Google; H is for Hedgehog; I is for Indian food
Awwwww! Thanks, hunny. I love you too (and I do mean it)!
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Darryn, can’t wait to see you guys at the end of the month. This is just a great dedication to Jill and makes you sound like such softy! xx p.s I think I threw up my pudding I was eating at the time
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