Francis and I actually met in August of 1997 on our 1st day at college (we remember seeing each other at our Welcome Weekend the previous spring, but we didn't meet then). My twin sister and I went to school together and were roommates. We were sitting in the campus center when Francis and his friend came up and introduced themselves to us. Having not been the most popular in high school, Jess and I found it quite intriguing that 2 boys would come up, out of the blue, and talk to us. It was a mutual attraction from the beginning, but our journey was a long and bumpy one.
We hung out with the same group of friends our entire Freshman year. Our first "date" was a floor activity of "Find Your Roommate a Date" (more details tomorrow!). We both really liked each other and eventually had a discussion about our mutual interest, but decided that it would be better not to date right away and just be friends. For some reason, hubby did end up dating someone else our 2nd semester which was heartbreaking for me at the time, but now we know that it was the best thing that could have happened. Our friendship blossomed and we truely became best friends. We saw each other at our highest and our lowest and loved each other more because of it. That relationship ended at the beginning of the summer, but ours continued to grow. We spent the summer writing letters and having a few phone calls back and forth.
We officially started dating November 27, 1998, during a visit to my house at Thanksgiving. I wasn't able to go back to college after my freshmen year because of the cost, so our entire dating relationship was long distance (as was our engagement). VERY difficult, but again, one of the best things, because we were able to learn so much about each other through phone calls, (handwritten) letters, and e-mails. Our times together were few and far between, but very special. Francis graduated from college in May of 2000 and we were engaged on July 2nd. 11 months later, on June 2, 2001 we became husband and wife.
(photo taken August 1998, 1 year after we met)
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