How Mama Met Dada

It was an odd night to be working at the bar and grill. I had a long day of student teaching and picked up a shift on a Thursday night. While I was waiting on the usual customers, a tall, dark, and oh so handsome man walked through the O Bar and Grill's door. He sat with a group of friends and I briefly thought he's probably already taken.

I made my way around the bar to get everyone's drinks and then headed back to wait on the other customers at the bar. And that's when he approached. He ordered a chicken taco salad. As he walked back to his table of friends, "The Chef," (a regular at the bar who thought he knew everything about cooking) reported to me with certainty that I had "googely eyes." I quickly denounced his statement and went right along serving my patrons.

Later that evening, I was approached by one of the females in the group. She asked if I was single and then proceeded to tell me how wonderful her friend was. I thought for sure she wasn't talking about the tall, dark and handsome man, that I had eyed the minute he walked through the door. And secondly, why didn't she want him for herself? To my great fortune, she was already married to another wonderful man.

After my conversation (with one of my future bridesmaids), I tried so hard, to pretend not to be nervous. I cleaned the glasses, chatted with the regulars, wrapped the silverware and waited in anticipation for the tall, dark, and handsome man to come talk to me. I had some serious sweaty palms. Finally, he re-approached me, this time to introduce himself. (Luckily he didn't try to shake my hand.)

We went on our first date in February of 2003. It was a lunch date at Turtles in Eugene, Oregon. I knew nothing about him yet, so I made him meet me at the O Bar and Grill instead of my apartment. It took some time at first, but once we both realized what we had, we were inseparable. We married on September 30th, 2006 at Sweet Cheeks Winery.

This last weekend your Dad and I celebrated our fourth wedding anniversary. I love him so much and I want you to look for a man as good as your Dad some day. Somebody who loves you unconditionally, makes you laugh, challenges you, knows how to say he's sorry, makes you feel beautiful and is your anchor when life is storming.