How Hubs and I Almost WEREN'T

I'm not sure why I'm in such a walk-down-memory-lane sort of mood lately, but I am.  Today I'm going to tell you one of my favorite stories.  It involves one of my oldest and dearest friends, a sorority sister whose privacy I want to be very careful to protect.  So I'll just tell you only that her name begins with Mich- and ends in -elle.

(I'm totally giving her a hard time, because I know she's reading this.  Hi, darlin'!)

Hubs and I first met our junior year in college, Michelle and Hubs were both very active leaders in a particular student organization.  They had to work closely together, and in the course of their interactions they had somehow butted heads.  Badly.  Both of these people I love dearly are very (how shall I say it?) independent-minded, and the two of them together wasn't a nice combination.

Anyway, Hubs and I had met in February of '93, with initially disastrous impressions of each other.  Thankfully, circumstances continued to put us around each other, and we formed more favorable opinions.  We quickly became friends, and I developed a pretty significant crush on this smart, funny, ambitious fraternity boy who was unlike anyone I'd ever met.

In March, my sorority held a "date function", which is another word for "cruel, medieval torture device."  Not really, but it did mean that the girl from the sorority invited a boy to the party.  As in, asked him out.  On a DATE.  Because of the very proper way I'd (thankfully) been raised, I would've rather thrown myself in front of a bus than ask a boy out, so I had skipped most of these date functions up to that point.

But then there was Hubs.  And I WANTED A DATE with that man.  I fretted and stewed and wrung my hands and somehow summoned every ounce of courage deep in my soul.  I was going to ask him to the party.

This particular date function required that the sorority member sign up her date's name on a list posted in the chapter house.  Then that list would be published in the student newspaper, and the girl would then call the boy and say, "Hey!  Did you see your name on the list?  That was from me!"

So not only could you potentially be rejected, but you could potentially be rejected with the entire University of Arkansas watching.  It was a grand tradition.

With sweaty palms, I nervously wrote "Hubs Dryer" on the list.  It was horrible, but I was ready to sacrifice my dignity for a date with Dream Boy.  I took a deep breath and dashed to class. 

As I headed across campus, though, I heard someone shouting my name.  It was Michelle, and she was frantically chasing me.  Breathless, she said, "Did I see that you put Hubs Dryer's name on the date function list?  I didn't even know you knew him!"

"Yes," I told her.  "We met about a month ago, and I think I like him."

She told me how she knew him, how they'd worked together.  "Shannon," she said firmly.  "He is AWFUL.  So bossy.  You cannot possibly go out with him."  Then she delivered the final blow:  "Trust me--the two of you would NEVER work out."

Of course, that was just IT for me.  My nerves couldn't take anymore.  As soon as I got the chance, I thoroughly erased his name from the list, thankful my friend had spared me from a horrible date with Awful Boy. 

Yet, Awful Boy continued to show up in my path, almost daily.  And he wasn't that awful.  Not at all.  When he spared me the trauma and asked me out a month later, I fell hard.

The wonderful irony of this story (and there is much) is that Michelle and Hubs are dear friends now, which tickles me pink.  Except for this one gaping incident, every other piece of advice she's given me has been spot-on correct, but I still won't let her live it down.  In fact, I recall standing behind her in the foyer of my hometown church on my wedding day.  Pachelbel's Canon in D was swirling in the air and Michelle, my maid of honor, was about to head down the aisle. 

"We'd never work out, huh?" I whispered.

Thankfully, a good sense of humor is one of her many gifts.  (I love you, my sweet friend!  Oh, and Awful Boy?  I love you too.)

Comments

[Marcia]

How wonderful! We were also told we'd never work out because of star signs (can you believe the craziness) and here we are 12 years later

[Tammy]

Glad to hear that all has worked out for you and Hubs!!

[Heather @ Desperately Seeking Sanity]

What a GREAT story!

[Melanie]

Fantastic. One of my favorite stories.

[Marian]

Published in the school newspaper?!? THAT is awful.

[southerngirlmusings]

That is a great story and I am glad that you didn't have to ask him out.

[Nicki]

Nice story. Funny how we listen to our friends over our gut instinct sometimes huh?

[Everyday Mommy]

Um...picture? We want an old picture of you & hubs!

[Shalee]

I think the walk down memory lane might have something to do with the cooling of the air. At least that's what I'm saying.

I love this story, Shannon. I love even more that you remembered to tease Michelle just before walking down the aisle. Priorities. You've got a great sense of priorities...

And I'm glad that God kept throwing Hubs into your path, so much so that you couldn't ignore each other!

[Ter]

Came across your site linked on another one, and thought I'd check it out. What a nice story of you and you husband's first moments.

[Steff (http://okierivermama.livejournal.com/)]

Alright...i have to know....so you were a sorority chick at U of A what house? I was a DG there thru 91. I am going back to school there in spring to finally finish after the last 300 years or maybe is just 16 of playing around. I just posted the other night in response to one of fiddledeedees questions about the Kappa Sigs shooting BB holes in the Pikes Moat at homecoming. LOLOL
Small world
steff

[Ashleigh]

You know, I think seeing his name as "Hubs Dryer" in the school newspaper might have scared him off anyway... don't you think? ;)

[Ewokgirl]

What a great story!

My own husband didn't like me at first. He thought I was a snob! LOL.

[Vail]

How sweet! I asked my HWH out two times before he said "YES"! Our marriage counsler said he wasn't sure if we'd be a good fit! But, here we are 15 years later - more in love then ever!

[dana]

This is a cute story. I loved reading it. It kind of makes me teary, because the love you have for your husband and your dear friend floods the page. It's so nice.

Or I'm just having an emotional fit today. :)

[Lucinda]

You know Delta sis...It is our job to protect each other!! Michelle just didn't want you to get hurt! You know our other old dear friend Susan told me that my hubs wasn't the kind of boy you married!!(what kind of boy was he humm??) I guess we have grown up a lot since we were 20.

[swirlingnotions]

I think you have a case of nostalgiancholy ;-). My hub and my mother got into a fight (in her kitchen) about whether we could sleep in the same bed (in her house) the first time they met. Not the greatest first impression . . . but that was 11 years ago and, as my mother puts it, that's all "water under the dam."

[crystal]

I went back and read how you met and it brought tears to my eyes! Great story!
=)

[Susan G.]

Ha! Awful Boy - I love it. Thanks for the great story.

[dcrmom]

Love it! Great story. :-)

[K]

Oooh you got me reminiscing about when my husband and I met. All its vomiting pyscho flatmate glory. LOL. Blogged about it so the memory is preserved for my future grandchildren to try desperately to conceal.
Thanks Shannon!

[JP's MOM]

I married my 3rd grade crush, who so just thought of me as "one of the guys".

Now I remind my boy who is constantly chased by the girls on the playground... 'be sweet one of those girls might turn out to be your wife'

Cute story.

[mama-rama]

I love hearing how couples met and fell in love. We all have those sorority sisters who were just watching out for us. Sometimes they did have our best interests at heart, and sometimes they just needed a little time to get to know the guy we picked as Mr. Right.

[Christy]

I also hated asking boys out for Sorority functions and they were not published in the paper. That is horrible. I am glad he asked you out later though. God is certainly in control.