12 years with Rainey and what has it gotten me? Well... It's gotten me everything I've always wanted and everything I never knew I wanted. She has put me In a place where I really feel I belong. She's accepted me for who I am and learned not to make excuses for the things I'm not. We compliment each other so well that twelve years has seemed like weeks. Where she panics with the small stuff that doesn't faze me, I lose sleep over the big decisions that she is always so certain of the right thing to do (and is always right btw). She is my best friend and the first person I want to share things with.
It's kind of a scary thought that the next twelve years could go by as fast as these last twelve. You blink and you've missed so much. You turn to grab the camera to preserve the moment and you've missed out on something even better.
I could not be happier with my life thus far and it's all because of Rainey. I'm not saying it's all easy all the time, but what thing worth while is? The last post "The Story of Syd" (our life story to this point) made things sound worse than they were. It was challenging at times but we were always happy. I've got no complaints about any of it.
I don't know If you've all heard the Story about how it all started (or heard my version of it) but here it is:
I'm 21 years old living at home with no idea what to do with the rest of my life. One day my sister Keri says there's a girl she works with that she'd like to set me up with. My immediate answer was "no way". And that was that... Or so I thought. As the next few days went by something kept poking me way down in the basement of my brain. So I decided I would go to Future Shop (where Keri and this girl worked) to look into buying a DVD player (back then $400-$500 was cheap for a DVD player so you know I was all about taking advantage of Keri's discount). So I pick out the player I wanted to get and went to the front to have Keri ring me up. Somehow during the process Keri disappeared and this other girl (rainey) took over to finish. That day I started my love of Rainey and DVDs. This is significant because only days ago we finally threw out that DVD player (yes it lasted 12+ years of non-stop use, they really don't make them like that anymore. It was a sony btw). I don't remember much of that first encounter it was kind of a blur of nervousness and panic. So, after that day I went back to Keri and told her that maybe I would consider going out on a date with this girl. She said she would set it up and let me know when to call in to the store to get Rainey on the phone. So I sat there on the couch in my bedroom with the number in my hand for what seemed like hours. I finally got up the courage to dial the numbers and was transferred to Rainey only to hear this:
Rainey: "What do you want!"
Me: "Hi Rainey it's Jeff"
Rainey: "Yeah, what d-o y-o-u w-a-n-t!"
Me: "Um… My sister Keri told me to give you a call"
Rainey: silence….
Apparently there was another guy named Jeff that worked at Future Shop and at that moment Rainey was not happy with him. She thought she was talking to him, calling from another department. After she figured out what had happened she was perfectly pleasant and even took the pressure off me by making the arrangements for our first date. We got food from Subway and rented Wag the Dog, with Dustin Hoffman and Robert DeNiro. Was the food good? I don't know I didn't really eat any of it. Was the movie great? Not really. But I knew there was something there between us.
After a while of dating, Keri asked if we would like to go to Seattle and help her move some stuff back down to Utah. After making sure Rainey was going, I agreed. Shortly after getting there I became very ill. I spent the first day throwing up. Rainey comforted me and stayed with me throughout. That night while clenched into a fetal position on Keri's bed she told me she loved me. I didn't know what to say, and being in the position I was in I didn't say anything. The next day I could think of nothing else. I felt better physically but mentally I was in turmoil. She didn't pressure me or say another word about it but I was running non-stop scenarios in my head. That night we were set to go to dinner and then to the space needle with Keri and Vic and I decided that was it. I was not going to think about it anymore. It was a huge relief and that night is one of my fondest memories. We had a great dinner and going up to the top of the space needle was really fun. Up there above the city we all kind of took off in our own directions to look at stuff. I remember wandering around looking at tiny versions of the space needle, on t-shirts, on shot glasses, on buttons and then I saw her... across the crowded room, her back to me. She turned her head and I swear it was like lightening had struck me. I knew at that moment that I loved her too. And I had to tell her. I walked over there and did so.
That was a really great night.
There have been many great nights (and days) since. I am so proud of who she is and so grateful to call her my wife. There is no other person on this planet that I could say that about. For me she is it. There is no before and there sure isn't any after. She has made me realize what a great thing it is to be a dad. Our kids are our everything. She is the greatest mother (though she'll swear she isn't) and I've learned so much from her. She's a babe, She's super cool and funny and I can't wait to see what the next 12 years will be like.
Happy Anniversary Rainey!
