Musings on 30 Years of Marriage--1

On August 25, 2009 Jan and I will celebrate 30 years of marriage. So I thought it would be good to chronicle some of our life together over 30 years.

So...let's start at the very beginning, a very good place to start...

We're talking memories from 10th grade in high school so who knows how accurate they really are?

I first noticed Jan when I started 10th grade. We were both attending a Christian High School, Minnehaha Academy. Jan was a year ahead of me.

I was a part of the school choir, called, MA Singers, as was Jan. Almost no 10th grade girls ever made it into Singers but a few of us 10th grade boys did.

I sat in the back with the rest of the baritones. Jan sat up in the front with the altos. Being a young, testosterone-charged 10th grader, it was not beyond me to notice girls, and I noticed Jan right away. Her long blonde hair, her cat-like eyes caught my attention. She, on the other hand, had no idea I existed.

I had a girl friend at the time. But that didn't keep me from observing other girls. I wasn't married after all.

Some early memories: Andrae' Crouch, a famous Gospel singer, was in concert at a downtown church called, Souls Harbor. I attended the concert with someone, I don't remember who, perhaps my girlfriend at the time??? Anyway, I spotted Jan at the concert. Again, she had no idea I existed.

The following Monday, in the choir room, there were just a handful of us as we waited for the other students to arrive. I was sitting in the back. Down the row from me was my girlfriend's brother. He had been at the concert as well. And in the front row was Jan, who had no idea I existed. So I very loudly called across the room to my girlfriend's brother and asked him how he liked the Andrae Crouch concert, hoping Jan would chime in. It worked. She turned around and we all talked about the concert for awhile. Then it was time for choir to begin. I got her attention. But still had the sense that she had no idea who I was.

Another memory: In choir I sat next to a guy who was a Senior. He was a fun guy, but a real goofball. Not the kind of guy who would attract the ladies, so to speak. Every spring our school held a banquet for Jrs and Srs called, JS. We couldn't dance at our school (a vertical expression of a horizontal idea!) so we had banquets instead. So this guy tells me he's taking Jan (who was a Junior) to JS. I couldn't believe it. What in the world was this sophisticated woman doing going out with this goofball? Nevertheless, I lived vicariously through him. He showed us pictures from the big event. I was relived to hear they weren't an item. Still...I had to do some mental gymnastics to try to figure out why she had gone out with him in the first place. And she still had no idea I existed.

Another memory: This was the fall of 1975, Jan's senior year, my junior year. The Jr's and Senior's did a fall boat trip down the Mississippi River. I can still remember what Jan was wearing--Jeans, a hoodie-sweatshirt, and a cap (not a baseball cap, but more of a driving cap.) I can remember this because there's a picture of her in our yearbook from the River trip. But I think I would have remembered anyway. (My timing is a bit confused by I believe this was around the time I broke up with my girlfriend. We weren't doing well anyway. I took her to homecoming but it was a big bust! She actually went home with someone else!)

I continued to lust after Jan from afar. But that all changed in January of 1975...