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01/31/2008: "The Story of How we Met (then I swear I'll *move on*)"
As promised:
Some of you may remember back in May of 2006 when I had the show “From on High” at the Two Crow Studio and Gallery. The owners were out of town and I was watching the gallery on the weekends for them. So Aaron came in to check out the show and we were the only two people in the gallery so we got to talking.
We had a nice long talk and he mentioned that he was on his way to the Juneau Yacht Association’s Boat Safety Show.
E: Do you own a boat?
A: Yes, a sailboat.
E: Really? Me too, what kind is yours?
A: A Catalina 22
E: Mine too!
Turns out we had nearly identical boats on the same float in Douglas Harbor only a few slips away from each other. He actually lived about 2 or 3 blocks away. He had actually grown up with Rob Roys (the gallery owner and a good friend of mine).
He took one of my business cards and later started calling me to come help him on his boat. He had only recently purchased the boat and was learning how to fix it up and how to sail. Funny thing is that I wrote about him. In the first post where I mention him by name I said this:
“Yesterday I got a call from Rod, whom I love and who always makes me laugh and right after we hung up the phone rang again and I thought it was him so I actually answered (GASP!) but it was Aaron who I met at the gallery awhile back (with the same boat who lives up the street). He’s called several times but you know me and the whole weird phone phobia thing but in this case I accidentally picked up and he asked me to come down to the docks, I said I would try even though in my mind I was thinking I probably wouldn't.”
Then I write about meeting with a guy who bought a painting and continued with…
“Then, wad of sold painting cash in hand and feeling fresh confidence in myself, I decided to go down to the docks after all. I don’t know if you have ever met someone whom you instantly felt like old friends with but that’s how I feel with Aaron, totally comfortable. He is such a funny, laid back and friendly guy, he showed me some real MacGyver tricks for my boat and then asked if I'd like to take his boat "Opportunity" (I shit you not!) out with him. Again, my first impulse was NO! But I thought, what the hell...and it ended up being a perfect sail. Sitting there in the boat, waterfalls on either side of us, the sound of the wind and the waves, I kept wondering: how did I get so lucky?”
“But luck wasn't so much a part of it, I could have sat home all day, not answered the phone being a hermitish blob like usual...I guess my whole point is even if your life feels predictable or you feel lonely or empty, just remember that you have the power to change things... that in a year (or a month or day) from now you could be somewhere new, with smile the size of Alaska on your face. As the banner on Granny Gets a Vibrator reads: It’s never too late!”
Truer words were never spoken!
Of course, Aaron and I didn’t start dating right away and I can honestly say that I had no interest in dating at all back then and from how he tells it, he wasn’t interested in me like that either. We became friends though, and at first we just went sailing or out for drinks afterwards and sometimes we talked on the phone….but we weren’t dating. We went to candle light dinners for two, driving up at Juneau’s look out point, and for walks on the beach…but we were just friends. Just Friends has been my plight *a lot* in life. This time, somewhere along the line, I hoped things would be different. And one night we went to a party at a neighbors house and afterwards he said “tonight it kind of felt like we were a couple” and I said “it did”. And he said “how do you feel about that?” and then we kissed.
Ah….then we started dating…that was about 5 months after we first met. Sometimes the best things in life take time.
May I also add (at the risk of making Rob BARF) that I'm still wondering how I got to be so lucky!
