We have several anniversaries - not that we keep or formally recognize them all.
The one coming up is indeed special to me. It's a date that will forever be etched in my memory. It's the date I met Josh.
March 2, 2012
A friend of mine from work and I had become friends and over the course of getting to know one another, we started to become closer. She had four boys and was going through a difficult time. I felt for her and wanted to get to know her better. We would talk at work and occasional texts. In February she had invited me to go snowboarding with her boys and a friend form church. She mentioned his name but it didn't stick with me. Then on March 2 (it was a Friday), I got a frantic call from her. Her oldest had hurt his knee, couldn't walk and she was in the process of rounding her other energy-filled boys to drive everyone to Children's Hospital in DC. She asked if I'd be willing to come watch them. She said she had also called her friend Josh and he was on his way - would I please coordinate with him and she gave me his number. Now, with this being a Friday (cold and rainy, I might add) the very last thing I wanted to do was hop in the car and drive into DC of all places and spend my precious afternoon/evening for goodness knows how long in the ER. I'll add that I worked full time and was in school Monday through Thursday evenings so an afternoon/evening off was a coveted enjoyment. But, I thought to myself, what would Jesus do and I told her I would be there and that I would coordinate with Josh. So I got off the phone with her and texted the number she had given me. I received a call from that number and it was Josh. The number was his work phone and he was not able to text. We chatted for a bit, laughed a little and planned to just meet at the hospital. I remember thinking how he has a very nice sense of humor.
I got in my car and drove to the ER. When I parked, I started walking toward the elevator and stairs. As I was about to cross the street, a Toyota Truck came zooming around the corner and didn't do the "nice" thing and let me cross. I had a momentary urge to give the driver a dirty look, but thought against it when I saw they were wearing a military uniform (and because, let's face it, dirty looks will come back to bite us in the butt).
I got up to the front desk and got a visitor's badge and looked around to see if my friend had arrived yet. I saw her a short time later with her boys and they checked in. Then guess who comes walking up as well - that's right! the dude from the truck in the parking lot. I was SO thankful that I had not given him a dirty look - that would have made for some very awkward conversations. We went down to the ER and found some seats. The boys took to playing with the toys that were around and I pulled out my Physics Homework. Josh had settled himself in the seats and dozed in and out. We talked for a bit about various things - Physics, martial arts, his work, my work. I remember being mesmerized by his incredible blue eyes (the uniform looked awesome on him too - I have a thing for guys in uniform). All in all we were there for about 2 hours or so. Thankfully, nothing was broken for my friend's son and we all went to part our separate ways. I can't remember if Josh and I had any parting words, but I didn't expect to see him again.
A couple weeks later, I got a text from a number and it said "this is Josh from the hospital, I was wondering if you had a facebook". I replied that, yes, I did and he looked me up and friend requested me. We texted back and forth for a bit and finally went on our first date... I'll save that story for another post. :)
