J & M: The Younger Years

I figured the best way to start the story about the evolution of Jamey's and my relationship was to start from the beginning. Well of course I would start from the beginning, but I didn't want to start at what was the beginning of our relationship I wanted to start at the first time we met. Mainly because this is Jamey's favorite part of the story ;) Well, I guess I like it too!

When I was 11 years old and about to start 5th grade my parents made the decision for me to stop going to the private school in Demopolis and to start at the public school system. A few weeks before school started a girl was having a back to school dance for all of her friends. I wasn't really friends with the girl, but a neighbor was and so the parents all got together and decided that it would be a good idea if me and one of my friends who was also changing schools that year went to meet new friends before the first day of school. Well, my neighbor friend also had a bestfriend that was going to the party and that friend was a boy named Jamey, who I would grow to know and to dislike (but secretly crush on) over the next couple of years. We all road to the dance together and I really don't remember a whole lot of my thoughts other than the fact that I was pretty nervous that I was going to a dance with a bunch of kids I didn't know. Well there was of course awkward 5th grade dancing and a lot of standing around and maybe even a game of Honey will you kiss me (Which is a lot more innocent than it sounds). I don't remember all the details these days, but that is when we met as told by me.

Now here is Jamey's version:

On the weekend before school started (when we were going into the 5^th grade), there was slated to be a dance, as such was the tradition for 11-year-olds celebrating their birthdays in Demopolis. On that fateful day, I went over to the house of my best friend’s grandmother’s house. The plan was this: we boys not wanting to arrive at such a social event flying solo planned on traveling together. Our mothers (and the mothers of others) thought that it would be best if we could share the ride over to the dance with others our age. And so, two of my friend’s grandmother’s neighbors’ daughters came over to my friend’s grandmother’s house. It was none other than my beautiful Morgan and her friend Morgan (no relation).

The introductions went well. I stated my name and proceeded to be really cool. She totally dug me from the very beginning (LoLZzZ!!). We rode over to said dance in a Taurus station wagon (rockin’!) and then proceeded to talk to other members of our respective sexes. I don’t remember too many dances that I danced that night, but one stands out. I finally built up the courage to ask Morgan for a dance. It was a clumsy, stiff dance. A mating ritual for giraffe amputees might have been more graceful than this. It was a dance I might have scoffed at myself for dancing so awkwardly, but looking back it was beautiful in its own right. I still remember that dance to this day, and it was in that dance (somewhere near the third chorus or the end of the bridge) that I knew that I was dancing with someone special…

PS I had nothing to do with his story. I merely handed him the computer and a blank document and asked him to write how we first met. Just throwing that in there in case you all thought I added that part at the end haha. Kidding.. I know you all know how sweet Jamey is to me. 

Over the course of the next 6 years we both grew up, changed a lot, made some mistakes, learned some things, and lived out young adolescent lives. We had most all of our classes together over the course of the next 6 years. We had the same 5th grade class, and then when we went to middle school we shared some classes together. Jamey loved to pick on me in gym class, and secretly I loved every minute of it. I still remember all the names he called me and how I would sit and listen to him talk about quantum physics and building hover crafts even though I had absolutely no idea what he was talking about. I think this time in our lives proves that God's timing works. When we were in middle school eveyone "dated" everyone. I think I had approximately 378274832 boyfriends during that time. I dated each one no more than 2 weeks and I never dated any of them ever again after that. I know it may seem silly to say that the Lord kept us from each other since we were only 13 and 14 years old, but looking back now that is the only thing I can say about it because while we were all busy dating everyone else we both had crushes on each other, but never actually dated each other. Maybe it was just because we were in different friend groups, but I think it was a little more than that too.

Coming Next: The Highschool Years