Sweet November Rain: A Love Story

I have never been a fan of New Year's Eve. I love a new year as much as anyone, don't get me wrong, but the whole notion of dragging oneself out of the house on a freezing cold night dressed in finery that isn't meant for freezing cold nights and putting oneself at the mercy of drunk drivers everywhere just doesn't make my skirt fly up (to quote Pioneer Woman...). Even at my wildest, I just couldn't get into it.

Then Hurricane Hanna happened. Hurricane Hanna changed my life. (if you're into love stories, this is the part where you grab some chocolate and a cup of coffee and prop your feet up...because you're about to hear mine).

It was mid-September, 2008. I was a degreed Artist working my butt (and my rather atrophied left brain) off in nursing school. I was living in Charleston, SC in a high rise apartment building less than a stone's throw from the ocean. I loved waking up to that view every morning but, having lived in Charleston as a child and survived Hugo hunkered down in my laundry room, I knew a thing or two about hurricanes. So when the 2008 season started heating up and Hanna appeared on the news, I made sure I had a flashlight and water, pulled the storm shutters closed, turned on the weather channel and prepared to wait it out. All of my friends were having hurricane parties and kept sending me messages to come join them in James Island or other locales off the peninsula. At one point, I had my keys in my hand ready to go before chickening out since, if the hurricane did make landfall and flooded the bridges, I'd be stranded.
Finally, after nearly 18 hours of being stuck inside with no hurricane anywhere in the visible distance (but the weather channel still saying it would be hitting us momentarily), I typed the words "Christian Dating Sites" into Google.

I can honestly say I had absolutely no intention of dating anyone or trying to date anyone during nursing school. Classes were hard enough without that added distraction and I had future plans that didn't involve a significant other: travel nursing, nursing in a third world country, the list goes on. Boredom can make you do some funny things though, and before long I was browsing the profiles of humanity's most desperate (or so I thought...).

The hurricane never hit but Hanna's ubiquitous threat had changed my life forever. I decided to get a free ten day trial so I could more effectively gawk, but before I knew it, I had a fully fledged out profile and was winking with the best of them. I made some friends, broke a few hearts and when ten days was up, I went on with life without a second thought. I thought my secret tryst with the world of online dating was over, but a month later I received a tempting email from the site offering me three more free days and, well, I accepted.

On day two of my free days, I was clicking through profiles when I came across a tuxedoed guy in his twenties with a military haircut and a killer smile. As a general rule, I never bothered with anyone who hadn't filled out their profile, and since he hadn't I clicked right on by. To this day I can't tell you why I clicked back, but I did. I also can't tell you why I attempted to IM him since the site's IM feature had been broken since the day I signed up, but I did and he responded. (I should also point out that he hadn't logged on in months). We exchanged AIM screenames since my free trial was about to expire and the rest, as they say, is history.

We talked every night about everything under the sun but as he was living in Arizona and I was in school on the East Coast, I never even entertained the idea of anything happening between us. I happened to mention him to my friend Amanda one night who essentially told me I was going to marry him but I laughed it off and went about my business as usual.

One cold rainy morning in November, I donned my scrubs and grabbed my bike for the mile ride to school. Dodging horrible Charleston drivers, especially in the cold rain always put me in a bad mood and it was only made worse by the fact that it was my birthday and I had clinical all afternoon. I stopped by the mail room on my way out and found a rather bulky card addressed to me from my internet friend. After momentarily freaking out over forgetting that my address was on facebook, I opened it and read the most articulate and beautiful letter I'd ever received. Enclosed with the letter was a beautiful St. Michael pendant given to him by his chaplain during his first tour to Iraq. I realized at that point that I was either going to have to stop writing this guy or marry him and judging by the sudden significant shift in my mood, I think I knew it was the latter.

We continued talking but there was a sort of tacit understanding that we were communicating as much more than random friends. By December we knew we wanted to be married so we went ahead and planned for a February wedding despite the fact that we had yet to meet. He came to meet me in person a few days after Christmas and the minute I gave him that first hug at the airport, I knew we had made the right decision. The next few days were a whirlwind of driving to meet my parents, applying for our marriage license, consuming large quantities of sushi and ring shopping.

New Year's Eve finally arrived. My usual disdain for the day was nowhere to be found as we got all dressed up for an amazing dinner at the Charleston Grille. Somewhere between the Foie Gras and dessert, he popped the ring out and asked me to marry him and with an enormous smile I said yes. As the rest of the restaurant applauded, we realized the string quartet had been right in the middle of November Rain. Nothing like a little Guns N Roses to get a relationship off on the right foot :).  (I still find it kind of fitting in the most cheesy sort of way since it was a cold and rainy November morning that changed the course of our relationship.) We spent the rest of the evening calling friends and family and shocking the pants off facebook (most of our friends didn't even know we were dating) and headed back to the Grille around 11 to toast in the New Year. We didn't realize they were giving out free bubbly at midnight so we ordered two glasses of pink champagne (An Affair to Remember, anyone?). The restaurant was standing room only at that point and a few minutes before midnight, someone bumped into Jason and his champagne went all over my dress. I'm pretty sure he thought I was going to give the ring back and leave at that point but I couldn't stop laughing. We toasted to the New Year and to our new life together and headed out for a late night walk on the cobbled streets of Charleston.

The rest of the story is a whirlwind, really. He left for the west coast and I returned to my studies while madly planning a wedding for mid-February. My mom was feverishly making my dress and I was scrambling to find a photographer, florist and reception venue. In the end, we decided to make it a very intimate affair with family and a few close friends. I had two major exams within three days of getting married but thankfully my Psych teacher gave me the Friday off before my wedding that Saturday so I could spend some time with my husband's family (who I met that night for the first time!). The wedding was beautiful. I can honestly say the entire process was stress free. I made my decorations and the cupcakes, we had a simple ceremony with my dear friend Jay Bopp playing the bagpipes, followed by a wonderful lunch at the fabulous Rue de Jean. It was the perfect day and my only regret is that it didn't last longer. Jason left the following Monday and we didn't actually get to live together until the following December when I graduated and moved out west to be with him.

So here we are, two years and a baby later. Last year we spent New Year's in Venice. This year, He'll ring in the new year with a post-workout protein shake and I'll probably be passed out in bed with a baby next to me by the time it gets to us. 2011 will reunite us again before we know it because thankfully, "nothin' lasts forever, even cold November rain".

Happy New Year!