Somewhere

All things begin somewhere. 

About 21 years ago, I was a 19 year old living in a small town in South Carolina with four states between me and my native state of Texas. I was renting a crappy place for $200 a month and my landlord’s secretary decided to set me up on a blind date. She was light on details, but I was poor and hungry for a decent dinner. If I played my cards right I could probably be fed multiple times, because she did mention he had a nice car and a good job. Turned out he was a 26 year old, fresh out of college engineer, who just wanted a date with a nurse in another building. Nonetheless, we went on this date. 

This was one of those dates that I wished I had ordered something instead of the cost conscious chicken. Had I of realized this relationship was going nowhere when the menu arrived, I would have ordered and gorged myself on the surf and turf. I mean, he mentioned his ex-girlfriends. Clearly, I was not about to be one of his exes.

He wasn’t a jerk, although in later years I would say he was. He was cocky, self centered, and certainly not someone I was planning to date seriously. I would take his company and eat his food…. I was 19, I too was self centered and cocky.

Then he asked me to help him move a couch….

The couch was located in his hometown 2.5 hours south. I hail from Texas, so a 2.5 hour drive is a day trip. I was expecting a day trip. Turns out this guy who I had  known for a couple of weeks (that I had no intention of seriously dating), took me for an over night trip to his parent’s house. No toothbrush, no change of clothes, no anything useful for an over night trip TO HIS PARENT’S HOME.

We started our parent grand tour at his father’s liquor store where he proceeded to pop the hooks on my bra. Then we rode over to his dad’s bar, where we were going to have a beverage and watch a little bit of a race on tv. That stop off ended with a fist fight over my honor. Then we eventually made it to his parents home, where I met his mother. She was an intimidating tall German woman who served us pizza on China that was consumed using forks and knives. (This whole experience alone could constitute several paragraphs, but we will talk about that another day.) Soooo…. Yeah….

At that point I was done.

Kind of.

He kept calling. I kept answering the phone. I moved and he was the first to see how the move went. He visited me. I visited him. After a while he started to grow on me. He was kind and and he saw something in this country girl from Texas.

I did have one thing right, I never was one of his exes.

I married Austin, the cocky jerk engineer, on May 18th, 2002.  

And that is the somewhere that Mother of Taylortots begins…