April 20: Fern Valley

Today is the 26th anniversary of the day Steve asked me out.  I think the Holy Spirit did a little work on us that day.

I knew that Steve was thinking of asking me out on a date. I had already accepted his offer to go to prom...as friends, or so I thought. We hung out a lot with friends, and I had no idea that he wanted me to be his girlfriend.

On April 20 of our junior year, we had been out with friends that afternoon. We had separate cars and when we were leaving wherever we were, he told me that he was going to follow me home.  When he pulled in his drive way I pulled over too. I didn't even think about it. When he came up to my window, I asked him, "I thought you were going to follow me home?".
Steve didn't really answer me, but instead asked me, "Do you want to go to see Fern Valley tonight?".
I answered him, "No, but I'll see Fern Gully. I need to ask my mom if it's okay.  I'll call when I get home."  When I got home, I asked and my mom told me it was fine. I was so excited!

He came to pick me up that evening and we went and played pool before going to the movies. When we got to the theater, "Fern Gully" had only been an early showing.  We went to see "White Men Can't Jump" instead.  Afterwards, we stopped at Burger King.  Some people we knew were there and they were so excited that he had finally asked.  I am sure if this was happening now, there would be a lot of social media posts happening.

I thank God that I pulled over that day, he finally asked, I agreed and my mom said yes! It was the start of something I couldn't even hope for.

My Facebook memory reminder today was from two years ago.  I say in the post that I can't imagine living without him.  Even though it was 4 months yesterday, I still struggle to believe he is gone and that I am surviving and living without him.

Today is the day we go to the funeral home too to plan for a spring burial.  We get to re-live a lot of it again. God will continue to grant me strength to keep taking another step.