Friday's walk down Memory Lane 1/27/2012

First Date.

For some reason my first date with Brad took place on my birthday.  I can't remember why.  Maybe my sister had convinced him to take me out so she could throw a surprise party.  It may have not been a surprise party....I find my memory fading...but there was a party for me after the date.  Brad didn't stay for it.  Regardless, Brad took me out the afternooon of my birthday.  My brother was visiting from Rexburg with his fianceé Bonni.  So when Brad knocked on the door, and it was opened, all four of us(my brother, his fianceé, my sister and I) were there to greet him.  Let it be known before I continue with this story that no one, and Brad would agree with me here, will claim that Brad has great fashion sense.  The other day he and I went to the bank to meet with our loan officer and I looked over at Brad and what he was wearing and he had on an old shirt of my Dad's that he had inherited several years back (it's pretty bad when he wears shirts that your Dad won't wear anymore) and the collar was all twisted and turned and two buttons were undone showing some chest hair.  I laughed.  So typical of Brad.  Thank goodness at work he has to wear a shirt and tie.  You just can't go too wrong with a shirt and tie. 

Okay, I lie.  The late 80's geometrical patterns went wrong with the shirt and tie. With Brad though, this style kept on giving...even as late as 1994.  Notice it wasn't his friend wearing the MC Hammer shirt. 

Alas, this is not bag on Brad's fashion sense day.  This is describe our first date day.  My brother, sister, Bonni and I greeted Brad at the door.  We are in the late 90's.  Brad shows up and he is wearing....a Gecko shirt.  Remember the Gecko shirts?  The wide stripes, the buttons, sometimes neon in color?   When were those in style?  Not in the late 90's.  Oh, look I found a picture of him in the exact shirt he wore on our first date....only this picture was taken 4 YEARS earlier.

Not so bad, I know....but it also had three buttons or more undone and there was chest hair

It's better in real life folks, lush and thick like Burt Reynolds.

peeking out from the opening.  A lot of  chest hair peeking out.  He never lived that down with my brother and sister....or me for that matter.  The chest hair pushed him over the edge.  We were all wondering who this person was that I had a date with.

He took me up to Provo Canyon for a hike/walk.  I was up for that.  I was sure it wouldn't be too long of a hike as it was the middle of winter and I hadn't dressed for a hike since he didn't inform me what we were doing.   I obviously didn't know Brad back then.  We hiked up to where he liked to rock climb and kept going.  Soon we were in snow that was more than a foot deep and Brad continued on.  I thought for sure he would turn around because, like I said earlier, I wasn't dressed to go exploring up this canyon in the cold but Brad's mind wasn't on me.  At this time in his life Brad was seriously into ice climbing.  As we were walking he spotted some ice that he just had to have a closer look at and that ice had all his attention.  He kept reassuring me we would just go around one more corner, but when we'd get there, he'd want to peek around another.  Up and up and up we climbed.  I don't know how far, but it seemed like we were close to the top.  I stopped.  He climbed further until he was satisfied he saw whatever he was looking for in that piece of ice.  On our way down to the truck I was near hypothermic and he suggested that we run the last mile through the snow to keep me warm. 

Thinking back on that date I can see how it foreshadowed my life with Brad.  Brad is an adventurer.  Those that know him will wholeheartedly agree when I say he is always looking for that best camp spot, the best piece of ice to climb, the best motorcycle trail to ride or the best river to fish in and that search for the best in recreation or life always lands us in some new adventure.  An adventure that sometimes both of us are ill-prepared for and at times one of us need to stop and rest, but eventually we make it to our destination and it's worth all the struggle, especially with Brad at my side.  He's good company.

And he was on this date.  So, returning home he asked me to go out again.  And, despite the chest hair that I could still clearly see with his buttons undone, his younger age and the fact that he served in the same mission as I had, I found myself saying yes.