Okay, okay, okay! I get it! You’re all mad at me for missing last week’s little love story. I’ll make it up to you. I promise. How about a giveaway on next week’s post? :)
Clearly a lot happened in the weeks after my brother’s wedding where I proved my true commitment to convincing my parents to let me get married sooner than planned. If you missed that story, go read it (here) and then come back.
My parents decided to stay for a few weeks in San Diego after the wedding so I knew I would have plenty of time to execute the next phase of my plan. A couple of days after the wedding, I was at work and my parents came by to visit. I was working as a leasing consultant at the apartment complex where I lived in Point Loma. It was only 4pm and I didn’t get off for another hour, but it was slow. It was a beautiful July day so I opened the door of the office, turned the phone ringer on loud, and we sat at a table in the courtyard of the complex. I will never, ever forget what happened next.
We sat for a while chatting about my job and how boring that day had been. They asked me if I was liking my apartment and if I was ready for school to be back in session.
School. The perfect segue.
“Yeah, I’m ready to get back to classes, but mostly just because I want to get it over with!”
They were confused. “But you love school…”
“I do! Well I did. I just feel like I’m at a completely different point in my life than everyone else. I know what I want to do for a career. I know who I want to be with. I think I can even graduate early and save some money!”
They weren’t dumb. They knew that I had ulterior motives for wanting to graduate early. It wasn’t about money. It was about getting married. They didn’t say it, though. Instead, they assured me that I didn’t need to worry about money and that they would help me as much as I needed, whenever I needed it. They said that I should enjoy my time in college because I would never have the experience again. They talked about how they got married when my mom was 19 and she had 5 kids by the age of 30. They warned that getting married too young could make me feel like I missed out on things. It went on and on. I listened closely, trying to have a teachable heart, but knowing throughout the conversation that my heart was set on something else. I was silent. My dad asked, “Do you feel like you need to get married? Like you can’t wait?”
I answered quietly, “No, I know I don’t need to. But I want to.”
Just then, the phone rang from inside the office. I ran inside to catch it. They hung up half way through my perfectly rehearsed, “Thank you for calling the Summit at Point Loma. This is Christin, how can I he-“. I looked at the clock. 5:02.
Defeated, I grabbed my purse, locked the office door, and walked to the car with my parents. Things weren’t looking good for operation “get married before graduating”. I had pretty much lost hope.
We got in the car in silence and drove to Chik-Fil-a. Surely even chicken salad and crackers wouldn’t make me feel better about my failed plan, but it also couldn’t hurt. As we pulled out of the drive-thru, my dad said, “So when’s your spring break?” Weird question. He’s really grasping at straws to stop this awkward silence.
“Umm… April? I don’t know. Why?”
He smiled in the rear-view mirror, “A spring wedding would be beautiful in Clovis!”
I inhaled a cracker and choked, at a loss for words. But I could tell by the look on his face and my mom’s smile. He was serious.
I still have no idea what happened in that 4 minutes that I went to answer the office phone, but I’m sure glad it did.
***For more of our Little Love Stories, click here.***
