Three Years of Looove.

In 2005 I decided to join the church choir. Actually, a whole passel of girls from my Sunday School class decided to join because the pastors daughter was our Sunday School teacher, and she was on a mission to not be the only young(er) person singing in it. I can’t sing worth a hoot (in my own opinion) but they stuck me in with the altos right before the line of sopranos started. I guess so I couldn’t interfere with either. Ha! 

I sang through Easter, and the 4th of July specials. Right on through Christmas. I really enjoyed it. My friend Jenni and I sat next to each other and we always wore similar clothes. Kinda awkward, but it wasn’t planned so it’s not like we could help it. I learned a lot of great classic songs, and really feel like God had me there for a time and a place. There are so many times that one of those old choir songs has ministered to me during a tough time. When you just want to praise the Lord, you want a song that has a few verses and a chorus. Not some punk rock, head banging, non melodic song, ya know? 

Anyway. 

The last Sunday in November, after Church was over, this little lady walked up to me and tapped me on my shoulder. She was your typical Grandmotherly type, with maybe just a little bit of cat-lady (you know, the crazy lady who pushes her shopping cart around the gutters feeding homeless cats??) thrown in. I’m not kidding. She had a bit of a wild look in her eye. Plus, I didn’t even know her. 

“I really don’t mean to be forward...” she started out, “but I have this friend up in the balcony who really thinks you’re something!” 

Uhhh. 

As you can imagine, my mind was going a million directions.

 A friend, huh? 

Like, a cat-man friend? 

Why’s he up in the balcony watching me? 

Creeeepy! 

“How old are you?” she asked. And I told her 18. “Oh, good! He’s 26!” 

Now I was really curious as to why she was friends with a 26 year old. 

She then went on to say how she would just LOVE (L-O-V-E) for us to meet. She told me his name, and asked if she could introduce him one Sunday, and I just kinda stared at her with wide eyes thinking that this was just really weird. Did I mention I didn’t know the gal? But, I gave her a weak “sure” and she just grinned and away she went. 

Well, I was pretty dumbfounded. Kinda slightly weirded out. Disturbed even. Some mystery man was up in the balcony checking me out, and I didn’t even know what he looked like! 

Several Sundays went by and no meeting. I later found out that Brandon was being pressured by Martha (crazy cat-lady Grandma) and it was making him nervous. He had merely asked her one day if he knew who I was, and she took that and RAN (as fast as a cat-lady Grandma can run...) because Brandon hadn’t dated a girl in 8-10 years, and people were beginning to take desperate measures to marry him off. 

Brandon said at one point she had spotted me walking across the parking lot, and proceeded to drag him in one hand and flag me down in the other. He ran. And if you were to meet Martha, you would have too. 

But, I’m getting side-tracked! 

Brandon knew Martha because of a man who ran one of the local gas station (pay attention, now! This just shows you how God orchestrates things to the finest detail). Brandon would frequent a gas station in town (he was 16 years old) and visit with the store clerk on a regular basis. Martha also happened to frequent this gas station (side note: When you live in a small southern town, you pick your favorite fillin’ station and get to know everyone. It’s just what you do.) and talked with the store clerk often. Her husband was ailing and she really needed someone who could take care of him while she was working. To fix him breakfast and lunch, help him dress, etc. He was slowly dying and just needed daytime care. Of ALL the people, this store clerk thought of Brandon. He was a respected young man even at the age of 16. And so it was, Brandon started watching Henry for Martha. Eventually his entire family got involved. The brothers would take turns if one couldn’t do it, and his Mom would help also. They were all there the day Henry died, and were very dear to Martha and her family. 

But, I told you Martha had a wild look in her eye. So being drug across the parking lot by her wasn’t an option, even if you were very dear. 

Sunday, December 11th was the day it finally happened. I was visiting after church when I saw her coming. I won’t lie and say I didn’t look around for a way of escape. She motioned for me to come and I GULPED a big gulp. I grabbed Jenni and made her stay within hearing distance. 

And there he was. Brandon Flowers. Wearing a winter overcoat and leather gloves. In need of a serious, serious haircut. His hair was down way past his collar, I guess to keep him warm. He took off his gloves, shook my hand and practically whispered hello. He was very, very quite. Green eyes. Did I mention his hair was long? He was pale, too.  Almost looked kinda sickly. (I’m just being honest!) 

He told me what he did for a living, and I just stood there and nodded. His Mother was there eye-balling me the whole time. We basically said high and bye and parted ways. 

That’s where my Mom entered the picture. Mothers, you’ve gotta love ‘em. The next day, while I was at work, she called Martha.

Oh yes, she called MARTHA. She and Martha had a lovely little chat, while Martha told her every last drop of information she had on Brandon. Come to find out, he was homeschooled his highschool years, didn’t date for the heck of things, used to be an electrician like my Dad, and ohbytheway, she gave him your phone number and he’s going to be calling you! I promise you, 30 minutes later the phone rang (So you see, things moved quite quickly from the very beginning) and it was him. He told me he was on his way to Houston to pick up something he bought on ebay (Lord, I’m sorry, but I failed to see that was a sign...) and asked if we could go eat lunch after Church the following Sunday. I agreed. And my Mother squealed like a little girl. 

We went out to eat after Church on the 18th of December. He met my parent’s before we left and Mom took a picture (of course! I’ll have to see if I can find it!) He drove me all across town to a little Italian place. He drove a big pickup and it was spotless inside. I could tell he liked nice things. Very gentlemanly, polite, and talkative. His phone rang 5 times (Lord, I also failed to see that was a sign...) during the ride. We ate, and he made me laugh, he took me back to church and that was that. I went home and laid on the couch contemplating what I thought of him. Mom later told me (like, later as in when we were making wedding plans) that she knew the minute she met him that he was going to be her future son-in-law. 

He didn’t call me until after Christmas. If that isn’t a man for ya, I don’t know what is. 

We talked on the phone every other day or so. I was housesitting for a couple over Christmas/New Years and he finally asked me if we were ever going to go out again. I told him that would be nice, and so we went out to eat. We then went out for new years, and I met his family. I’ll never forget how down to earth he was when he’d come get me. He was the type that only dressed up for Church and special occasions. We’d go out in t-shirts, blue jeans and boots 90% of the time. What you saw was what you got with him, and I loved it. 

He held my hand on our 2nd real “date” and he asked me to be his girl. And I was smitten. January 2006 we went out 2-3 times a week. I told him I loved him first. He grinned and told me he wanted to tell me that so bad, but was scared. 

You know me, I’m blunt and to the point. :) 

February 2006 I knew we were going to get married. He was waiting to buy a ring, but it took him FOR-EV-ER to pick one out because he’s particular like that. I told him I didn’t care about a ring, I just wanted to hear the words so I could tell everyone I knew. 

Finally, February 11th, in the parking lot of the Gainseville, TX Starbucks, he asked me to marry him. And of course I said yes! 

The end of February he called me as I was getting off work and asked me to meet him at the park we ate lunch at a lot. He told me he had some coffee for me. It was a snowy cold February evening, and I climbed in his big ol Diesel. He told me he’d found a really cool rock and me being ever so gullible took it hook, line and sinker! He pulled out the ring and put it on my finger and asked me again. Such a goober. 

March, April and May were spent making wedding plans. Originally we were going to get  married in May, but the Church only had May 6th or June 17th available. May 6th was too soon. Mom didn’t think she could plan a wedding for 250 people in 8 weeks. I’m glad we didn’t attempt it, either! It took 6 weeks just to find dresses for everyone, and being in the middle of wedding season, we were hard pressed to find what we needed at the rental companies. She worked down to the last minute. I never thought there would be so many little bitty decisions to make for a wedding! To say we may have ruffled one another’s feathers a bit would be an understatement. ;) 

June 17th came, and the wedding was beautiful. We had so many people show up, lots of great food, and it was really a fun day! So many people couldn’t believe how calm and easy going I was, but I really enjoyed the day. Didn’t cry a bit, I was all grins. We didn’t want a “bridal line” like a lot of receptions have. We walked around and visited with everyone, thanking them for coming. For a LOT of people, this was the first time they had met me or Brandon. It really was a lot of fun and the entire wedding fit our personality to a T. I didn’t walk down the aisle to traditional music, but rather a song by Sara Groves called “Fly” - I didn’t do a lot of things traditionally, we had a lot of music that was not instrumental. I’ll have to see if I can add some of the video sometime. 

Anyway, that was our whirlwind 6 month meet, date, and marry-athon. I cleaned him up, got him to enjoy hair cuts, and took care of that sickly look by feeding him right. 

 Three years later and I couldn’t imagine being with anyone other than Brandon. We’ve had our share of ups and downs and learning experiences, just like any young married couple. We’ve been through the highs and lows as small business owners, family tragedies, new birth and more...and every day I wake up next to him, I thank the Lord that He gave me such a man. 

Having a baby definitely changes the dynamics of a marriage, but in such an exciting and new way! Every kiss is still just as sweet as the first one. :)