Though the news never covered it, there was an amazing, perhaps once in a lifetime, alignment of the stars in January.
January 11th to be exact. It was the day I finally found a window. Yes, that window, you know the one: When God closes a door, somewhere he opens a window.
I will leave some of this for future tellings. Let’s just start at the beginning, shall we? For it is a hilarious start to an amazing series of events that have led to my recent engagement.
Kat and I have known each other in the online pirate community since 2005. In fact, she applied to join my pirate crewe, the Pyrates of the Coast, thinking it was still in Washington State. It wasn’t. It was 3,000 miles away in Floriduh by then.
Fast forward to my return to Washington seven years later. We had finally come into proximity of one another, Kat and I, albeit as casual acquaintances. We were in different crewes with a different circle of friends, and though we occasionally would see one another at a bar or festival, we never really thought much about it.
We never engaged in hanky-panky, only delightful yet innocent flirtation.
Yes, there is this famous photo of she and I staring deep into one another’s eyes. For those of you not in the know about the story, that photo was taken at A Pirate’s Life For Us in 2012, a gathering of some 200 pirates in Ocean Shores each January.
It actually took 15 tries to get this one photo. We simply couldn’t look each other in the eyes. Looking back, there was just too much being said, things that couldn’t be said because I was in a relationship and she wasn’t really ready for one. I will leave it at that.
We never crossed the bridge to inappropriateness, not even a single kiss. It wasn’t until last August after I had became single again that that precious first kiss took place. And man, what a kiss. My toes curled up, right into the back of my shoes. I think they were like that for three days.
But there was still one last journey for me, so nothing else transpired, until that fateful day this past January. It has become known as our Honestversary.
Risking everything and nervous as a school boy, I asked her out on a date. She texted me back that she would have to think about it. My spirits sagged. I was sure I had blown it and was never going to get another chance.
After what seemed like an eternity, a second message came through. Three letters – “Yes!” It was then that heaven and the earth, as well as the very molecules of all existence, aligned in ways they rarely have in the history of mankind.
You wouldn’t think it by our first date, though, which happened a week after our Honestversary. It was a complete comedy of errors. Food is always a safe first date choice. We decided to go get pizza in Fremont. Unfortunately, the line for this particular pizza place was out the door, so we had to come up with a Plan B.
We soldiered on, ending up at Kidd Valley for burgers. Neither one of us could finish our food. We had so many butterflies flying around by then that we were getting all crampy inside. Never in my life have I not finished a Kidd Valley burger. Until then.
We went to Plan C. Karaoke with our friends. That would be fun. But when we opened the door to the Heads and Tails tavern there wasn’t a friend in sight.
Kat thought we should call it a night. The pressure was simply too much for us. During our Honestversary we had come to find that we had huge crushes on each another and just like in high school, the nerves were all in a tangle.
Plan D. We headed back to my house. I invited Kat in, in a desperate effort to spend just a few more moments with her. I was already smitten. I guess I had been for a time, and didn’t even know it. I didn’t want her to leave, but damn those knots in our tummies. I’m surprised one of us didn’t let out a huge fart, which may have been just what we needed to break the tension.
We spent the next three hours talking on the sofa. About everything. No, not the superfluous dating stuff you talk about on a first, second or even third date. We dove in deep right from the start, about us, our interests, our belief systems, our outlook on life, what we wanted out of life – nearly any subject imaginable.
Suddenly, our awkward first date took an amazing turn, a turn I’ve never known. We were sharing stuff about our lives that you just don’t share on a first date, and some, not even with best friends. I told Kat things I’ve never told anyone else, and if I recall, she shared the same with me.
I think I knew right then and there that there was no one else for me. We connected on so many levels that it was mesmerizing, hypnotic. We couldn’t get enough of each other and kept sharing everything we could think of, even though our tummies were doing huge flip flops.
I seriously doubt anyone has covered so much ground and touched so many serious topics in such an intense period of time. We were both exhausted by the end of our date, a date that started out so horrible, like one of those dates you talk about for years to come.
We will talk about this date, rest assured. But not as the worst date ever, but the best. Now, all these months later we have decided to marry. We have covered every big issue imaginable, often within minutes, we being so much on the same page. Religion, politics, parenting, money, pirating – I told you we talked about the big stuff.
Oh, and one last important topic: shoes. What? Originally we both were waiting for the other shoe to drop, but there aren’t any shoes in this story. Except perhaps, the ones we’ll be wearing as we walk down the aisle together, to become husband and wife next January.
In the Emerald City, so thankful for that we had the courage to have our First Honestversary on a cold, rainy night in January,
– Robb