My True Love, Part 1

One of the first questions I often get when I go out with my husband is, "How did you two meet?" I guess it would be the fact that he is indeed Irish and I am obviously not. The accents give us away.

The answer? We met at summer camp.

Okay, so we were working at summer camp. It sounds better when you say it the other way though, doesn't it?

Our first picture together, Summer 2001

I'd had enough of the camp I'd worked at in Texas and wanted a change. I found a camp that was located on a college campus in the same city where my grandparents live. I'd been a program director at my old camp, but I made as much money/more money as a regular counselor at the new camp so I decided to go for it.

The Irishman met our boss at a job fair in Ireland. Sue is obsessed with all things Irish has since become a very good friend to us. She has also since admitted that she liked the Irishman's friend right away but wasn't so sure about the Irishman. Noel worked at camp one summer and the Irishman worked there five plus summers.

My first summer there the Irishman was my boss on the administrative team. I was actually dating someone else that summer. I had been with the "someone else" for about five years. (I also think a now happily married "someone else" may read my blog from time to time, so I'll leave it at that.)

The Irishman had traveled after working at camp each summer. He and his insanely large bag he always managed to fill with books old red backpack have seen more the the US than I have. When I needed someone to ride with me from Florida to Arkansas via Houston after my father and "someone else" both backed out, the Irishman volunteered for the road trip. We'd become friends over the summer, so I didn't mind the company. (There was supposed to be another counselor with us, but he got fired the last night of camp for something I refused to allow in my car.) The Irishman and I set off and took cheesy pictures at each "Welcome to" sign as we went on our way. Nothing happened, but we were asked in Louisiana if we were married.

Old photos I later scanned from our "Road Trip"

We kept in touch as friends over the next year via e-mails. He sent me great e-mails he'd been sending to his sisters in Australia to help keep them from being homesick. (That was the year he took a job as a postman...oh the stories of the yellow bike...) I broke things off with "someone else" the next November and the Irishman was a supportive friend via AOL Instant Messenger. I did not fully comprehend the time difference back then. He was staying up very late to speak with me. I loved typing talking to him. I looked forward to catching him online!

That sping, I needed a date for my sorority formal. I'd had a built in date for the previous 5 years. I was getting extremely worried about it. The Irishman stepped up. He flew across the pond for the formal. He spent a crazy amount of time and money many hours getting to Fayetteville, AR for a two day visit.

He says now he looks at that as an investment. I'm so glad that he did!