Dating Diaries 2

I was inspired by another blogger, Cjanerun, who wrote about 5 of her past loves. Each story was so different and so beautiful, and in each story she reflected on how that person had influenced her. I find relationships very interesting, and I think you can learn a lot about yourself through dating and friendships. With it being February, love has been on my mind lately and I've been remembering some pretty great valentines-of-the-past as well as some great people I got to date (there have been a lot of them). I think I'd like to take a little look back on some of the loves of my youth. Maybe this will get interesting! This blog could use a little spicing up, after all!

My first love
was probably Marc. He could not have come into my life at a better time. I was feeling pretty down about Josh--in fact, I had to spend a whole choir trip watching him with his new girlfriend. My mom and I stopped in at the jewelry store, which used to be owned by my grandpa, then my uncle, and then Wayne, Marc's dad. I had stayed in the car, but my mom came back for me and took me inside to introduce me. Marc was so cute. He was wearing a Hawaiian shirt and his hair was bleached I think. He had the bluest eyes and was so cute! I know, I already said that, but he was cute! He got my phone number, and called me while I was on the choir trip. I was ecstatic! I dated Marc for a while, but it was always kind of from afar. He lived about an hour away, so quick hang-outs weren't really our thing. On weekends he would bring his best friend Oren along as the token third wheel since we were under 18 and didn't go on single dates yet (Blake would break this trend with no resistance from my mom amazingly, but that's another story). I didn't like Oren all that much, but I really loved being with Marc! He is one of those people that is incapable of guile. He was always easy going, had a smile on his face, was kind to everyone. Dating him probably influenced the list of character traits I would look for in my future husband. It was easy to tell Marc would one day be an amazing husband and father. And I sure daydreamed about it.

I didn't even know how popular Marc was until he took me to his senior prom. That was unbelievably fun--he seemed to know everyone, and everyone loved him! And he didn't even seem to recognize that he was popular. He was just genuinely friends with everyone. What?! I actually had to get out of playing the piano for my school's Women's Chorus that night in order to go with Marc. My choir director wasn't super happy with me, but it was so worth it!

One of our favorite activities was swimming. Marc was a summer-lover and I was too (not a "summer-lover" like in Grease; a lover of summer). We spent hours in my pool, and he had the most toned body from hours and hours of water polo. He was a really good swimmer, and did I mention he was super cute?? I just remember warm summer nights with the dark sky above and the glowing pool below. We also spent a lot of late nights on the phone, and my mom would pick up the phone upstairs and inform me it was time to hang up and go to sleep. Ah, the pre-cell phone days. How did we survive? On one of those phone calls Marc first told me of his dream of becoming a pilot, a dream that has now, about eight years later, come true.

Marc left for his mission while I was still in high school. We wrote each other, but the letters were not particularly poetic or long. However, he returned the summer after my Freshman year at BYU and we picked up where we left off. With my going and coming from BYU, our dating was a little scattered. We never really discussed our dating or the future, and maybe if we had, things would have panned out differently. Somewhere along the line, Marc moved to Provo. Whether that was to start a new life or to be closer to me, I wasn't sure, but I assumed the latter and it really freaked me out. I had a whole different life in Utah with an incredibly busy schedule, dating, friends, choir, and ballroom. I had gone on my first few dates with Raimo and was really liking him. I was dating a TON my sophomore year--for some reason, that was my peak in dating. I "broke up" with Marc, and I think it really took him by surprise because we had never actually talked about being officially together. I'm sure I hurt him, and though I really liked him, I knew with having him so close by I could only date him exclusively, especially since I'm pretty sure he was not dating anyone else. He was an RM. And I liked him a lot. But I knew I didn't want to get married yet, and ultimately I didn't feel like he was "the one".

I got it into my head that I shouldn't have broken up with him and made up with Marc the following summer (Raimo and I were broken up), and we spent time together but never really dated again. There were a lot of times when I really missed Marc--he was someone I loved being around and really admired, plus he was just an adorable, fun person. I'm a better person because of him.

P.S. One of the things that I will never forget is that after his mission, Marc made it a goal to keep up his scripture study. Every single night he would read for an hour. I'll tell you why this is especially amazing--I would keep him out super late on our dates, and he would still have the long drive back home, and then he would start reading. By the time I had sent him home, I was already crashing in bed. I have never been good at making the time for scripture study, much less for an hour every single day and at such a late hour. I always wished I could be like that.