This Year's Love

I've already told the story about "How I Met Your Father" on the blog.  But it doesn't do my relationship with Andy justice.  I realize that this is my "scrap blog" and mostly represents how we spend time with our kids as they grow up.  But every once in a while I like to pause and remember that, not too long ago, this amazing little family started out as just 2.  Two people who were looking for something special and stumbled upon one another in a little bar in Knoxville, TN.  Two people who didn't realize at first that what they had found would change their lives forever.  I can be a bit of a sap.  I admit it.  But Andy can be too :)  In fact, I'm willing to bet that on any given day, Andy is more of a romantic than I am.  He is so good with the small, sweet gestures.  About two months after we first met, I was accepted to the graduate school at UNCW and drove out there for a quick visit in June.  When I returned home, he had left two dozen roses on my coffee table with a card telling me how much he loved me and couldn't wait for us to spend the rest of our lives together.  He has always been awesome that way.  For the following year, Andy drove 8 hours to visit me in Wilmington multiple times.  That first year we were dating was very different than what most people experience.  We spent 10 of the first 12 months living in separate states.  Therefore, when he planned a visit I wanted it to be as special as possible.

Now, for those that know me at all, you know that I LOVE music.  It's a hand me down from my parents who use music to define major moments in life.  I don't know how many times I've heard, "This song reminds me of that time when..".  So from the get go, i used music to define our time together.  There was always music playing in the background when he showed up and in the CD player while we tooled around town.  Andy, who also loves music, would make it a point to identify certain songs with our relationship.  

It was in that first year of dating that we fell in love with David Gray.  His "White Ladder" album was beautiful.  And it defined what it was like to fall in love.  Deeply in love.  To the point where you realize that this is the person that makes all those ridiculous love songs of the past make sense.  The first track on the album, "Please Forgive Me," begins with the line, "Please forgive me if I act a little strange, for I know not what I do.  Feels like lightning running through my veins, every time I look at you."  That is how I felt when I first laid eyes on Andy.  I felt electrified.  To the point where I can picture, as clear as day, how he looked playing air guitar with a pool cue.  It's ridiculous, and absurd, and a little self-absorbed to be so focused on one's relationship.  But this relationship made my life so amazing.  And dammit he was/is so freaking cute!  Therefore, how can I not fixate on it?  

The rest of the album is a beautiful list of songs that make you feel as if you wrote them yourself.  The most famous, of course, is This Year's Love.  When we were planning our wedding, Andy and I considered having this as the song we dance to during the reception.  We decided against it mostly b/c we didn't think people would understand the lyrics, "this year's love it better last."  That's not the overall message of the song. It's the idea that that I've been waiting for something wonderful for so long and I've finally found it.  THAT'S why this better last.  Because it's amazing :) 

So why do I keep rambling on about David Gray and how he defines my relationship with Andy?

When we were vacationing in Florida back in June, I happened to log onto FB on a tuesday.  David Gray's fb page told me that he would be performing, at the Ryman Auditorium, in Nashville in August.  As a result, I spent 30 minutes frantically vying for tickets on the beach in Sandestin with my iPhone.  Thanks to Katie, all children were taken care of and I will never again buy tickets using my iPhone.  But long story short - I got the tickets.  Keep in mind - I've been secretly searching for tickets for the past 13 years.  This was the first fortuitous turn I've experienced.

We drove to Nashville on a Saturday, got to hang out with our awesome friends and soon to be parents - Rebecca and Steven, and attended a concert that made our top five list of all time.

Waiting for David Gray to come out.  I honestly think that if I'd told andy the tickets were in Alaska he would have said, "Let's do it."  We have been waiting to see him since we started dating.  That's an entire decade of anticipation.

I stole most of these photos from the David Gray fb page.  Our seats were amazing but I butchered every shot considering I was crying through the whole concert.  I'm not kidding.  The moment he walked out on stage I felt 22 again and couldn't stop thinking about how this guy next to me changed my life forever.

It was truly amazing.  He played so much new and old stuff that I became a fan all over again.

The set list that night.  He played every single song we could have hoped for.  As Andy has said, "David Gray's music is important to us.  And worth the wait."  I will be 80 years old and hear the first few chords of This Year's Love come over the Musak system at my nursing home and start bawling.  If you are visiting me at that point, please explain to the staff that I'm not going senile.  Just that I'm remembering what it was like to be 21 years old and come home from a night of evening classes to find that Andy has made me a fancy dinner and has White Ladder going on the stereo.  He is/was the best guy ever.  I love you Andy and am so happy that 'this year's love' has lasted and lasted.