It makes for quite a good story, I think, and it taught me some important things, so without further ado here is the unabridged version of how I met my wife:
January 2nd, 2013
I had been seriously dating Lisa for about 3 months now (no, Lisa is not my wife, nor is Lisa her real name. And no, this will not turn into a longer-than-nine-season story, nor will it be raunchy in the slightest) and was now on Christmas break with my family in California, while she was in another state. I was crazy about Lisa, and felt that things were going really really well between us. In fact, I felt prompted and nudged to go buy a ring--so off I went to do that.
We had broached the subject of domestic felicity before, and I was all for it and had felt that it would be right. Lisa, however, was terrified of marriage. She sure liked me and could easily see things going that direction, but still had a thousand fears of this and that. Despite this, I felt strongly that I should buy a ring while on Christmas break, and so I did. I figured that about the time of her birthday, sometime in February, I could propose. She liked the color blue, so the ring I bought was very unique--it had a giant blue sapphire in the middle and two small diamonds from my grandmother's earrings she had given me on the sides. I really have got to say it is the most beautiful ring I have ever seen.
January 5th-9th, 2013
Christmas break ended and for once I was very excited to return to school to see my love. I really did love her a lot and would do anything for her--including scrape off her car of snow without gloves and drive it to the airport to pick her up. That Winter was very cold, it was about 4 degrees fareneheit, and the car was covered in about a foot of snow. I thought my fingers would die as they brushed away the snow. I guess that's besides the point though.
That week went very well, with our relationship picking up where it left off before Christmas break (or so I thought). We were very happy together, and I lightly brought up the subject of marriage again. She often tried to avoid this subject, as it made her anxious, but she said that she had been praying over and over again to know if she should marry me, and had still not received an answer. On my side, I had received my answer long ago, and was so sure of it that I had bought a ring. Having received that answer, I was not worried at all that Lisa would eventually find her yes answer.
So all was well with Lisa and Scott (at least that's what I thought)...until January 10th came.
January 10th, 2013
The 10th was a Thursday, the first Thursday of school, and I had planned like everyday to go to Lisa's place after school to hang out. Halfway through the day, though, I looked down at a text I had received: "I've got a lot on my mind lately and I need some time to be alone, so please don't come over today."
Scarcely have words ever pierced the soul with such dread. What??? Where was this coming from?? What did she need to think about, and had I done anything wrong?? Perhaps you think I'm foolish, and in hindsight now I can see the warning signs, but living my life at that point this came as a complete shock. Lisa valued her alone time, something which I had a hard time understanding, as I am very very clingy.
I don't actually know if that night was windy and stormy, but it felt like it was windy and stormy. I had no idea what I would do since I couldn't go to Lisa's, and my heart was filled with such a horrible and unreasonable dread. My mind jumped to the very worst conclusions, and even though I knew it was impossible (I had received my answer, and I thought she could not receive a different answer) I thought "Tomorrow morning she will break up with me. No, no that's impossible." But anyways the thought still festered there, tormenting me and keeping me from sleeping.
January 11th, 2013
The next morning dawned bright and cold and with no less nervousness from me. I was so nervous I was shaking and could not keep my mind focused on anything but knowing what was going on with Lisa. As I was doing some sit-ups trying to distract myself, my phone beeped and I looked down at the text: "Could you meet me at the duck pond? We need to talk."
This text, of course, only sent my heart into wilder convulsions, and I could not stop the very very loud thought "She's going to break up with me. She's going to break up with me!" I rationalized that this was impossible, and tried frantically to calm myself and explain that this was not the case as I walked to the duck pond. By now, many of you may be chuckling to yourself as you can see exactly what will happen next. All I could think was, "No, this will be just a normal talk. But why at the duck pond instead of at her house?"
There she was, at the duck pond, and then followed the last conversation I would ever have with her. It was very short, and she began it like this: "I got my answer, and my answer was no. I should not marry you. And since I'm not going to marry you, I shouldn't be dating you. And I don't want to tempt you to want to date me, so we probably shouldn't see each other for a while." She spoke these words to someone, though she didn't know it, who had bought a ring for her and was very much counting on this to work out. I don't remember what protests I made, but I'm sure they were very blubbering and pathetic. Mostly I said "How? How could this happen? I was sure my answer was yes!" She said she didn't know, but her face was not very sympathetic. She did what she felt she had to do, which was very admirable. I gave her a few hugs, and off she went. Off I went into the saddest week of my life.
January 18th, 2013
The last week had been pretty horrible. I had been so devastated, so taken by surprise, and so heartbroken. I had never loved someone so much and then had my hopes been smashed so abruptly. I clung on to hope, and felt, since my answer had been yes, that there was a very good chance we would get back together. At this point, though, we were in a rough spot and were not speaking one word to each other. I felt like a zombie the whole week, unable to concentrate on anything, overcome with grief. Anyone who has experienced this will understand what I mean, and if you have not gone through this I hope you never do.
I had received a Priesthood blessing from my wonderful roommates, in which it was said that soon, I would be happy again. I did not see at all how this was possible, but I believed in the promise. That Friday, I was still a devastated zombie, and I had a space between classes with nothing to do. Wandering around campus, I saw a poster advertising a blood drive going on then. "Donating blood is service, helping others, right? And that's supposed to make you feel better," I thought, and in a wild attempt to help myself feel better I went to donate.
I sat down in the line and pulled out my computer to work on some homework. However, I have always believed that if you have an opportunity to do something good, you should always do it, because you never know what you might miss if you avoid the opportunity. A very curly-haired girl was sitting next to me, but I had no interest in talking to her. Absolutely no girls interested me except for Lisa. Still, for some reason I could not concentrate at all on my homework. Sighing, I put away my laptop, turned to Jenn McLean and asked the most suave line you have ever heard: "So...do you donate blood often?"
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