Two years ago today (Sept. 12), I met my best friend on the first Sunday afternoon of the 2010 NFL season.
It was a normal, everyday meeting between two future best friends.
What do you call that side room off of Edwards Lobby? The one with all the windows and the nice furniture and the beautiful HDTV? We should give that room a short, catchy name.
Anyway, I was simply taking my Sunday afternoon nap on the couch in that room with NFL games playing on the TV. I was kind of embarrassed and frankly a little irritated when she walked in with a guy to watch the game too. I had to sit up and be normal.
She didn’t seem all that interested in me at the time.
We kinda kept running into each other through mutual friends. I found out she liked the Pittsburgh Steelers, so I invited her to watch their upcoming game against my favorite team, the Miami Dolphins.
That’s when I got her number.
The referees in the game cost the Dolphins the win. With less than a minute remaining, Pittsburgh quarterback Ben Roethlisberger clearly fumbled the ball near the goal line and Miami clearly recovered. But the refs blew the play dead, giving the Stealers the ball back with time to kick a field goal to win a game they absolutely deserved to lose.
I’m still bitter.
As freshman year went by, she and I grew closer as friends. By the end of freshman year I realized just how much I enjoyed spending time with her. As the summer wore on, when we were separated by more than 1,200 miles, I missed her more and more.
One year and two days ago, I asked her to be my girlfriend, 363 days after we met.
I know. So close. Should’ve waited. That would have been cool.
I’d never had much success with girls. It used to discourage me. Now I’m glad I didn’t. I just needed to get her.
She’s introduced me to so many things: queso, fried rice, spicy ranch at Sharky’s.
More important than new food options, though, is her unbelievable patience, thoughtfulness and overall amazingness.
She’s fun, funny and adorable. She’s smart enough to make up for me when I’m not. She makes me want to be a better man every day. Not to mention, she’s the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen.
And she’s probably a little mad at me for publishing this.
I call her Pookie Bear.
Yep, if she wasn’t mad before, she definitely is now. But if embarrassing her isn’t my job, what is?
I could go on for hours, or pages, but it would only barely begin to describe what the past year has been like. Nothing else compares. Meredith, thank you for making the past two years wonderful, especially this latest one. I can’t wait to see what the next one has in store.
