It was a Friday the 13th almost 34 years ago that I tricked the boy of my dreams to take me out on a date.
He was a soccer player...I first saw him from the back and ohhhhh that butt!!! He was just so yummy. We were in our last year of high school ... I was new, he knew everyone... I was hippy-dippy, he was a jock.

I surreptitiously checked out where his locker was and talked a girl I sort of knew into letting me move into her locker beside his for a few days. I skipped a few classes waiting for him to show up and when I saw him, I plunked myself down on the ground in my flowing floral print dress that was so different from the jeans everyone else was wearing. I dejectedly began piling books on the floor around the locker and he asked what I was doing.... I flat out lied... Told him Leslie was kicking me out of her locker because it was too crowded and my locker was all the way in the tech wing which made me late for my classes. He totally did the chivalrous thing and invited me to share his locker. Poor lamb had no idea what an evil and conniving woman I was.

I moved in and we became friends. After a week or so of palling around, I explained to him that I refused to date him unless he met my dad and my dad liked him. He hadn't actually asked me to date him...or in any way hinted that it was in our future but I'd thrown down the gauntlet and he was competitive. He wanted to know when he could meet my dad. I was worried because my dad hadn't liked any of my boyfriends and I really wanted him to like this one. He turned out to be right about the others so I'd decided I would trust his instincts.

I invited him over and he totally bonded with dad... They played darts and talked about soccer. My dad even offered him a beer. My mom loved him and my sisters were mostly well behaved. When he left, I casually asked dad what he thought. "Aye, he's aw right" was the answer...high praise from a Scotsman. Just as he said it, my dreamboat phoned from a pay phone on the corner to ask if he'd passed the test. I told him he had and he asked me out for Friday... The 13th.

We ate at a little Italian restaurant near my house. We both had veal parmigiana (and we totally Lady and the Tramped our spaghetti!) and I had tiramisu for the first time (it's still my fave dessert). He walked me home and we ducked under a weeping willow tree on the way home and kissed for the first time. It was magical.

Two years later, we married. We just celebrated our 32nd wedding anniversary and when I look at him, I still see that high school boy...

Friday the 13th just couldn't be luckier :)