We Built This Marriage, We Built This Marriage on Pro . . . je . . . tors . . .

Mr.M is a huge movie fan, so the first time he came to see me outside of Bible study was when I was working at McDonald's. His excuse was that he had just bought a new projector (true) and that McDonald's was on the way home (false.) I took a short break, and we sat in a booth and had ice cream cones. We only dated a few months, so I don't have too many dating stories, but I will share what I can remember. I remember after of few weeks of dating, when I was driving to his house after school or work almost every day, he called me to ask if I liked him. Sarcastically, I said, "No!". I then hastened to tell him that of course I liked him, why did he think I drove out to see him every day? During our courtship, we often spent hours in his back yard, stargazing. One of these nights, he asked me what I thought about marriage. I said, "Oh, I suppose it's a nice idea . . . wait, do you mean TO YOU?? GROSS!" (I don't remember how that conversation ended, but apparently, we clarified it.) We knew almost from the first date that we were most likely going to get married. I was 19, and not getting any younger. About a month into our relationship, Mr.M took me to see his family on the east coast. It was a fun trip, one we repeated a month or so later, over Independence Day. We were going to go see the huge fireworks display in Washington, D.C. I was so sure that he'd propose here that I ransacked his luggage looking for the ring. No ring. He proposed the next week, on the beach back in Southern California. That was over 17 years and 4 projectors ago.