The Story of Us

In the summer of 2002 I was working at Wal-Mart waiting to start my first semester of college.  I had been dating a guy for about 1.5 years.  Daniel was going to school in Boulder, about 1 hour away, but would come home to work at the same Wal-Mart during the summers and holidays. A few months prior I had seen him and I thought "Wow, he sure is cute."  But then he left to go back to school.  I remember when I saw he returned that summer, I was giddy! 

I remember getting a call from a co-worker while in the car with my boyfriend.  She said to me, "An old guy just stopped by asking for you.  He said that his grandson Dan worked here and he thinks you are pretty special."  I was on cloud 9 but had to play it cool so my boyfriend didn't find out. 

We both secretly spent the next few weeks looking at one another's schedules trying to make our paths cross. 

My friend Christina, who also worked at Wal-Mart, was a social butterfly, never late to introduce herself to a new face.  When I told her that I thought Daniel was good looking she immediately went up to him and started making small talk.  Turns out that she developed a crush on him as well.  Since I already had boyfriend and Daniel wasn't really making any moves she went ahead and got to know him eventually asking him out on a date.  I anxiously waited up for her call that night to tell me the details of their date.  She finally called and told me, "Well he likes you!  We spent most of our date talking about you and him asking questions about you."  While I felt bad for her I would be lying if I said I wasn't EXCITED!  She was such a good sport about it though. 

I learned that in just a few short weeks Daniel was going to be leaving for Field Training for a month.  As much as I wanted to get to know him I tried so hard to push my feelings aside.  I told myself, "He is attending school an hour away and leaving for a month.  It just wasn't going to work."  After I learned he was attending one of the largest parties schools I tried convincing myself that he was into everything I was not...partying, drinking, smoking pot.  I mean of course, he smoked pot, I just knew it I told myself.  Well I couldn't have been more wrong about his character. 

The day before he left for Field Training I found a flower on my car with a card that read, "Angela, I will be thinking about you all month.  Love, Dan."  Melt-my-heart-I-was-head-over-heels-and-I-could-no-longer-deny-it!  (I still have that card).  My favorite part about this story is that during some point in my relationship with my boyfriend at that time, he randomly told me, "My biggest fear is that some guy is going to put a rose on your car and sweep you off your feet!"  It was SO random at the time. Little did we both know how right he was to have that fear. 

As soon as I got home I got his number from Christina and called him to thank him for the rose.  He gave me his address for Field Training and I promised to write him. 

That night my boyfriend and I had a mutual breakup.  While he was very sad about it I was not but I had to pretend like I was.  As soon as he left my house I wrote Daniel to tell him the news.  We spent the next month communicating through letters.  The night he came home from Field Training we sat on a park bench and talked for three hours.  We even had a police officer come check on us to make sure everything was okay.  My Mom came looking for me because she started getting worried. 

In January 2004 Daniel enlisted in to the military, in April 2004 he proposed and in September 2004 we were married and haven't looked!

I love this man more than words could ever describe.  He is patience, loving, kind, honorable and makes he makes me a better wife, mom and person. 

Happy 9 Year Anniversary to my main squeeze!