Date 3 of 52: Back to the Beginning

The idea for this date came one night while Brian and I were going through our storage bins trying to de-clutter.  Brian opened up one of his many"memorabilia" bins, and it just happened to be one of his academy trunks, full of academy memories.  We started sifting through it all and were transported back to that crazy place and that crazy time...
The pictures, the little notes, the cards...each one had a very vivid memory attached to it, and it was good to remember.  I decided these things shouldn't be hidden in some trunk and forgotten.  They were too wonderful, dorky, mushy, you name it...seriously after looking at some of my sappy cards I wondered how he ever managed to continue dating me!
One particular card caught my eye and gave me the idea for our date.  The card was a collage, its message made out of letters and pictures I cut from different magazines.  The pictures and words painted a pretty good picture of what was important to us back then.  I thought it would be fun to make a new collage and see what we cut out now that some time had passed.  I thought it would tell a great story if I framed them and hung them on our wall.
So I selected a few favorite items from that trunk and then got down our other bins of pictures and cd's.  I got out the paper, scissors, glue, and magazines.  Once the kids were in bed we sat on our living room floor and began going through our life in notes, pictures, and video.  It was heartwarming and hilarious all at once.  I looked back at pictures of Brian when I first started giving him hair cuts.  He wore that shorn hair proudly, never complaining...now that is love.  I remembered our walks down by the waterfront, and getting chased by skunks.  There were so many of them, I think it was a secret academy security measure.  I grabbed another picture, again at the academy, eating dinner we cooked using just a hot pot, using frisbees for plates, trying to come up with some sense of a normal relationship.  Who knew, years later, cooking would still be a way for us to connect?

Graduation, the first apartment, the first good-bye on the pier, the first welcome home, the first vegetable canning attempt, the first renovation project, the first pet, the first child...

It is fun to think about it again even as I write this.  Well, as for the date, we got so caught up in the memories, we never even touched a pair of scissors.  There is no "then and now" collage hanging in our room, no pictures to share of what we made, and that is just fine.  In fact, I feel it is probably the way it was meant to be.  Those cards and pictures we gave each other were only meant to be seen by each other, and that is the way they will remain, hidden in a trunk, waiting for the next time we open it up and are transported back to that crazy place and the crazy time...

Well, look at me getting all sappy again.  I will leave you with a picture or two to lighten things up, from the days when I was dating a sweet 12 year old boy, at least that is how old he looked!

One of our "homemade" dinners at the academy.

At Brian's parent's house for a long weekend, out working in their yard.

Brian's View:

I'm not sure what to add here...I had a great time digging through our pictures and our "memorabilia."  Its fun to look back at the great times, how we turned tougher times into enjoyable experiences, and to laugh at everything in between.  This date was  a great reminder of how we got to where we are and what's important, all without becoming too sappy.