22 years ...

September the 22nd, 1990 was, like today, a Saturday.

I spent the afternoon with a friend, drinking tea, chatting, and doing some art together. We'd made a habit of it, getting together at least once a month back in those days, and as always, we'd had a fabulous time.

I'd been a bit unsettled that day, however, and found it difficult to focus on the piece I was working on at the time. I couldn't shake the feeling that something big was going to happen that evening.

Eventually, we packed up our art materials for the day, and went downtown to meet some other friends for dinner and dancing- it was to be a birthday/going away party- at a restaurant which, sadly, no longer exists.

I still found myself full of nervous energy as we seated ourselves at the long table which had been reserved for us, and I started fidgeting with my sunglasses.

People started to arrive, and I continued to fidget, eventually breaking the arm off of my sunglasses. The birthday was mine, as was the going-away, and my dear friend and her boyfriend were organising everything, including the guest list. My friend had told me who she had invited, but I was still surprised to see a tall guy walk in with another friend of ours.

I'd met him before, but not under the best of circumstances- I was left with the impression that he was a jerk, and he, I later learned, that I was "stuck up".  I didn't really know him other than his name, and that he was a high school friend of my friend's boyfriend and a few others who were there.

I was still fidgety and nervous, and as dinner proceeded, I found myself throwing bits of paper napkin at "this guy". I even threw the arm of my broken sunglasses at him. Partway through the evening, it occured to me that I was flirting with him.

After dinner was done, the DJ started up the music, and we started dancing. For some reason, I ended up back at the table with just "this guy" and our mutual friend, Dave.

(I'm guessing the song that was playing was one for which I didn't care)

We were chatting about various things (I honestly don't recall anymore what we were discussing) when the DJ changed the tempo of the music- a slow set.

The first song was "Lady in Red", by Chris de Burgh, which was very popular at the time, and I found myself singing along, as was my habit (still is). "this guy" noticed, and asked me to dance.

"This guy", dear readers, is now my husband, and has been for the past eighteen years.

We've been dancing ever since ...