(I found these photos after I wrote this story.)

Memories are weird. Like, we have so many and they’re somewhere in our brains just waiting to be dug up. (I realize there are scientific words for what I’m talking about, but I’m not going to use them because that would just be pretentious.)

I was reminded of this the other night when Jacob and Lilah were in her room signing a song before bed. On this particular night they were singing a song that has the words in the chorus: “And I’m so happy, so very happy!” Well when they got to this part of the song Jacob sang, “And I’m so-” and then put his fingers on his cheeks and did a big smile. Lilah said, “Scary?” He laughed and sang, “And I’m so scary, so very scary!” I could hear him and Lilah laughing so hard together. It immediately reminded me of a date we went on early in our relationship.

Jacob lived in San Diego and I lived in Azusa when we started dating. So, one evening he asked if I would meet him in Laguna Beach so that we could go somewhere special. I have no idea why I remember this (again, memories are weird), but I wore my new high-waisted jeans and an orange v-neck shirt. (That has nothing to do with anything. I just wanted to prove that I have a good memory.) We met up, ate dinner, and then went to “Thousand Steps Beach”.

We made the trek down the seemingly endless staircase, snuggled on a blanket, and watched the sunset. Once the sun was gone it was time to head back up the now completely pitch dark endless staircase- something we had not considered. (Keep in mind, this is pre-iPhone and definitely pre-iPhone flashlight, so it was DARK.) I was honestly a little terrified but just annoyingly giggled (and huffed and puffed) the whole way up, because I was too embarrassed to admit I was scared. About halfway up Jacob pulled out his little point and shoot camera to document our adventure. At some point he put the camera near my face to see if it could capture anything other than the darkness so I smiled, trying to be cute, and he gasped in sheer terror. I nervously laughed, “What?? Was it scary?” He paused and, as kindly as he could, diplomatically responded, “It wasn’t not scary.” That was one of the many times he made me laugh until my abs hurt.

I have no idea where this memory was filed away in my brain, but I sure am glad that 9 years later it came to my mind. And who thinks I should try to find the video??

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