A walk down memory lane

Will and I were asked to talk to the youth of our church about dating this past Sunday. We weren't quite sure what to expect but found that these kids, ranging from ages 12-17, had written down questions for us, and the two other couples, to answer. I'm not sure if the youth liked what we said or if they took anything away from us but I really loved it. I loved that their questions made me think back to when Will and I were just friends and when our dates were just for fun. It made me think about our very first date and all the times we spent together at the beach before we knew what we really meant to each other.

So just bare with me as I walk down memory lane.

My first date with Will was in 2009 and he went all out, especially for a first date with a girl that was just a friend and lived 4 hours away. He picked me up at our rental beach house in his black Ford Ranger and we went up to Wilmington. We had dinner at Flaming Amy's Bowl, which is a fun restaurant where you pick out your own veggies, meat, pasta, and sauce and they grill it up for you. I remember sitting at a two person table to the right of the grill. After dinner we went to see the second Transformer movie that had recently come out. Will had seen it but I hadn't and I remember being devastated when Optimus died. Will says that after the movie we went to get Coldstone ice-cream but I don't remember that. I do believe him though. And most of all from that night, I remember driving down the swampy, Brunswick County back roads, with the windows down, music loud, and lightening bugs all along the side of the road. It felt good being with that Southport boy, in his truck, in the middle of July.

I never would have guessed that summer night in 2009 that Will and I would have so many more dates ahead of us. More dates that would be just as friends, just for fun and then more dates that would come to mean so much more.

But I'm glad I didn't know then. It makes walking down memory lane all the better.