It was a Friday. A game day. February 4, 2000. Basketball was my favorite sport, and as a freshman in high school I'd earned a starting spot on the varsity team. In retrospect, I see now how difficult that must have been for the sophomores, juniors, and seniors over whom I started, but that was the coach's call, and we had a great coach.
We played Greeley that night, and we'd scouted them. I still have the copy of the game we'd been to earlier that season between Spalding/Spalding Academy and Greeley. I'd written notes on it as to who was a shooter, who was left handed, who liked to dribble, who would probably drive to the hoop.
Our game against Greeley was at home, and I always liked those games better than the away ones. Beyond being in the gym in which we practiced every day, there were other bonuses like having a break between school and the game that did not include a long bus trip. And stopping at my house for snacks and food and getting an encouraging hug from my mom. And Friday nights after games, everyone packed into our local Pizza Hut. I think Pizza Hut in our town was probably rated (by the fire marshal) to hold 30 people. We'd pack at least 60 in there, sometimes two to a chair. Nothing celebrated a victory or lamented a loss better than fresh, hot pizza with friends packed in like sardines.
I played 4 quarters that night, a total of 29 minutes. (I'm cheating - I don't remember these exact details, but I found my stats sheet - thanks Coach!) I had 4 points, 2 assists, 6 rebounds, 2 steals, and 2 blocked shots. It was a good game for me. But that wasn't the life-changing part. The life changing part came after the game.
See, there'd been rumors around school that week that someone was going to ask me out. I took me a day or two to weasel who it was out of one of the guys during study hall, but I'd found out. He was the cutest guy in the sophomore class - a guy I'd secretly had a crush on for as long as I'd known him (since I was in 1st grade). I wasn't stupid enough to believe the rumors that were flying - I was not the kind of girl that guys asked out. My two best friends - they were the kind of girls that guys asked out, but they were both in relationships at that point.
I was still a proud member of the "She-Woman-Man-Haters-Club." It was all a joke, but you know how on the movie Little Rascals they have the He-Man-Woman-Haters-Club. This was our elementary school response to seeing that show. I still have the contract we made as 5th graders and signed to this day. And somehow as a freshman I still believed that I was destined for singleness until at least 30. Who needed boys anyway?
Over the course of the week leading up to Friday the 4th of February in 2000, the rumors turned into more of a reality, and I was waiting in some strange state of disbelief for all this to unfold. On the way back from Tuesday's away basketball game earlier that week, I'd caught him staring at me from the back of the bus. Strange. But my heart skipped in my chest a bit. On Wednesday one of the guys in my class stopped by my lunch table to inform me that this guy who was going to ask me out thought my butt was hott. Nice. Just what an awkward, insecure freshman girl needs to hear... I turned red and got out of there as quickly as possible!
So, back to Friday night. The games concluded (we beat Greeley, by the way), and the sophomores had to clean up the gym. Everyone was heading to Pizza Hut, because that's what we all did. Before we left, one of my best friends and one of his best friends convinced me that in order for the inevitable "asking out" to happen, I needed to "make myself more available" for such a conversation. They sat me down, by myself, with not a soul around for at least 20 feet, on the bleachers in the farthest corner of the gym.
I tried to be patient. The guy is supposed to be the pursuer, right? *sigh* I felt like a bloody fool sitting there on the bleachers, and I could only take it for so long. So I got up and then got a verbal lashing from my friends. "You were perfect! Why did you move?!?" Yeah. I felt like an idiot. I was tired of playing "the game." So I went up to this guy who was supposed to be asking me out.
[*Disclaimer* This is where he and I differ a bit in the story. But it's my blog, so you get my version. He can comment if he wants to contest any of it or start a blog for himself and give his own version.]
He was sweeping the trash off the bleachers in the south east corner of the gym. I walked up to him. I said, hi. He said hi. I said something along the lines of, "So I hear you have something to ask me." And then we sat down. I don't really remember exactly how the next 5 minutes went, but it ended with he and I agreeing that we'd like to be more than just friends, and that we'd meet at Pizza Hut in a bit.
As promised, we met later at Pizza Hut, which was PACKED as always. It was the age of the Big New Yorker, so we ordered one. The pizza was huge and SUPER hot, the table was tiny, there were 6 of us crammed around a table for 2, and there was no room for plates, nor was there enough silverware to go around. My boyfriend (for all of 1 hour) chivalrously offered me the fork from the set of silverware we had to share. He took the spoon. (Why does Pizza Hut have spoons anyway?)
The pizza was too hot to be picked up and eaten, so cutting with silverware was a requirement. As he tried to chisel off a bite, the steaming, greasy pizza flipped off of his plate and onto his wrist. I can attest to the fact that he did not cry. I can also attest to the fact that the hot grease from the Big New Yorker resulted in a 3rd degree burn that turned black, and now, 14 years later, still shows a nice scar.
What a way to start out a love story, right?!?
You've probably guessed it by now, but 14 years ago, on February 4, 2000, Chase Francl asked me out for the first time. Now, here we are 14 years later, and so much has happened...
- I dumped him after a few months of dating
- He asked me out after a few months off
- I dumped him again after 9 months of dating (what was I thinking!?!)
- He asked me out again after a month off (Thank Heavens!!!!)
- 2 high school diplomas
- 2 bachelors degrees
- 2 masters degrees
- 5 1/2 years of dating
- 8 1/2 years of marriage
- 6 moves
- 6 job changes for him
- 5 job changes for me
- 2 kids (one not quite fully baked yet)
- 71 weeks and 2 days of pregnancy (Only 8 weeks and 5 days to go!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!)
- 14 years of shared excitements, hurts, memories, life.
I don't think there are quite words to say exactly how thankful I am for the faithfulness of this man. 14 years - that's almost 1/2 of my life (next year, it will be 1/2 of my life!) that I've spent with him. He knows me better than any human, and still he loves me. Unreal. Incredible. Unbelievable to me.
The patience. Oh the patience he has for me! And the grace to love me not just in spite of my quirks and flaws, but to love me through them and even because of them. He encourages, uplifts, supports...
Back in elementary, middle school, and high school, I was pretty convinced I wanted to live in a big city, be single and independent, have a dog and a cat, be a career woman. That was my plan. I didn't need a man in my life, I was sure. I think God put Chase there so early in my life because I may not have been open to letting him in later. I mean, look at me now. I live in a tiny town, I would never want to be single and I'm certainly no good being "independent" without my husband's support and encouragement, I have a dog (though not a cat), and I'm definitely more family-focused than career-focused.
Chase is not my god. Please understand that. But Chase is my most treasured gift from God (apart from salvation - don't go all theological on me here!). God knew what I needed, what would refine me, what would make me into a better me, what I would need as a cornerstone as I've - as we've - faced the last 14 years. "As iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another." Proverbs 27:17 I feel sharper.
I can't tell you how thankful I am for that day, 14 years ago. What a blessed day that was.
 |
| This is one of my all time favorite pictures, taken in 2009 at at Virginia Tech/Husker game. We lost, but there is no one else I'd rather sit by through the ups and the downs (of football and life). |
No comments:
Post a Comment