Flashback Friday: A love story, kind of. Part I.

In honour of mine and Eric’s four-year anniversary yesterday (thank you for all the anniversary wishes) I thought I’d use this flashback Friday blog to tell you guys the story of mine and Eric’s relationship. Since we have been together four years it’s a lengthy story so I’ll save part two for next Friday!

Eric and I both went to a small country school called, Clearview Elementary Junior Secondary School, the school goes from Kindergarten to Grade 1 and has approximately 150 students attending at any given time. Technically, we’ve known each other since we were five and six years old.

In grades eight, nine and ten. Eric was a hottie. He was very athletic and cute. All the girls liked him, but not me. Seriously. We never even talked, even though we went to such a small school we were part of different groups.

Fast forward to high school, we FINALLY get to leave Clearview (this is a big deal) and attend the high school in Fort St. John. Since we lived out of town we had a long-ass bus ride to get to school every morning. I’d get on the bus at just after 7:00 a.m. and get to school at 8:30 a.m.

This is where the “love story” actually starts, on the “Clearview bus” as we called it. I was in grade 11 and Eric was in grade 12 and for whatever reason he decided I was going to be his bus buddy. Every morning we’d sit with each other on the 1.5 hour bus ride. We also played hockey together at Clearview, me and a few of my girlfriends from the girl’s team practiced with the Clearview boys team a few nights a week because my dad coached it. Before long the whole hockey team was hanging out, usually at my house, after practices. The more I hung out with Eric the more I started to like him. He was really quiet and CUTE; all the girls on the hockey team had a mini-crush on him.

My crush lasted about three months until one weekend, in February, we had a hockey tournament in Hudson Hope, another small community on the opposite side of Fort St. John. Since the tournament was lasting all weekend, we had hotel rooms there. One night after playing hockey all day the whole team was hanging out in one of the rooms and there was about eight of us squeezed onto this tiny couch, I had managed to snag a seat next to Eric.

I leaned forward to grab something off the coffee table and when I leaned back, Eric’s arm was around me. I was freaking out. Eric and I officially become a ‘couple’ that night, February 5, 2005. We went on our first date almost 10 days later, on Valentines Day, to see the movie ‘Boogeyman‘. Eric got me a single pink rose, and I still have the petals from it today, four years later.

When I say we had a very “high-school” relationship I meant it. It wasn’t long before we morphed into the typical, drama-filled, on-and-off relationship that encompasses the definition of high-school-relationship. For the next 11 months, we were very on and off, it was hard, we loved each other a lot but we were just kids. Two days before Christmas, 2005 we broke up for “good”, which actually ended up being only five months.

It was a tough five months. We’d see each other every few weeks, and talk on the phone here and there. The longest we ever went without talking to each other or seeing each other was 17 days. Yup, I counted. I’d read somewhere that if you don’t see or talk to the person for 60 days you’ll be over them, so I was keeping track, trying anything to heal my heart.

With prom approaching me and my girlfriends began discussing who we would be going with and there was no-one else I’d rather have take me. I asked Eric to prom and he was the perfect gentleman, he made the experience perfect for me. The day after prom, we went to the movie together and he asked me if I wanted to get back together and I said yes. We’ve been together ever since.

You can hear the rest of the story next Friday!

OK, be honest with me on this one, you won’t offend me. Do you think that on/off relationships can ever actually work? Did you ever have the kind of on/off relationship I was talking about, tell me about it?

This is the only picture I have of us from high school other than prom pictures! This picture was taken the summer after we started dating.

Disclaimer: I wasn’t lying when I said I was a natural redhead, I did however dye my hair dark brown with a temporary dye once. I’ve been thinking of doing it again actually…

Funny story about my dark hair, after I’d dyed it Eric and I were in Walmart and we passed my grandma in the aisle. We were actually “off” at this time and just hanging out and I hadn’t seen my grandma since I dyed my hair. So my adorable grandma who is the nicest lady EVER walks past us and I go “hi!” and my grandma fixes us with the biggest death glare ever and kind of grunts and continues walking. I’m like, “Grandma!?” and she turns around and is like “Oh, hey kids, didn’t see ya there!” and she gives us a big hug and chats with us. She later told me that she thought Eric was with another girl and that’s why she fixed us with the death glare! Thanks for looking out for me Grandma