Friday, December 01, 2006

Red

This month, my husband and I will celebrate the 20th anniversary of our first date. We'll also celebrate the first anniversary of our new baby's conception.

Both anniversaries I might owe to the color red.

When JP asked me out 20 years ago, we were still in high school. There was a dance the day after Christmas. (Actually, they called it a cotillion, but that sounds fancier than it actually was! Maybe the parent organizers thought we'd all act better if they gave it an important name. It didn't work.) I was the new girl and decided to give this seemingly shy, geeky guy a chance. What did I have to lose? He was nice. He didn't seem bothered by the fact my dad wanted to talk to him first. And I got a red dress out of it.

My stepmother took me shopping for the dress. The fashion then for a typical prom-type dress had a dropped waist, a full skirt and puffy sleeves. The dress we found was plain, but the beautiful Christmasy color and the ever-so-slightly shimmery fabric won us over.

Apparently, it won JP over, too, because he asked me out again. As I got to know him, I realized he wasn't as geeky as I thought. Smart. Kind. But shy? Yes. I was outgoing enough for both of us, however, and we were a regular couple for the rest of high school.

Nineteen years later, after 11 years of marriage, I was looking forward to having an intimate Christmas with JP when I stumbled across beautiful red lingerie. It was unlike anything I'd ever worn: red lace with clusters of glitter placed in a pattern that made you think the glitter was actually rhinestones. It was fancy and seemed just right for Christmas. Anyone married for 11 years knows you try different things to keep those flames of romance going, so a week before Christmas, that little red outfit helped me fan those flames!

Little did we know that lingerie also happened to have a hand in giving us a baby! The way I tell people: we weren't trying, but we weren't not trying, either.

So, 20 years in the making, our baby is now here. It will be our first Christmas together as a family! And we have a special new Christmas stocking for our little guy in . . . red.

--Damselfly started blogging about her pregnancy at Growing a Life and is now making sporadic new-mama posts about her 12-week-old boy. We've swapped places today, so please go check out my entry there--and don't miss the rest of the red- & green-themed blog exchange posts. You'll find all of them by clicking on the pretty pink button at right.

11 comments:

Momma The Magnificant said...

Your rules for decorating and Trees, are right on target with mine. DTB suggested we buy a artifical tree for our first christmas together, in our new home, with our first son, on his first christmas. I nearly had a heart attack. I'm glad someone else agrees with me!

Anonymous said...

I love to hear stories of high school sweethearts who made it work and have happy marriages. I'm not even in touch with anyone I went to high school with anymore and I'm sure anyone I dated back then didn't turn out to be marriage material!

Binky said...

What a sweet connection! I hope you have a wonderful first Christmas together as a new family.

Anonymous said...

What a wonderful story! Congrats on celebrating your first Christmas with the three of you.

Kate said...

The first Christmas with a baby is always so memorable! My second baby wil be celebrating his first Christmas with us since he was born on 1/6/06. I can't wait to see the expression on his face when he sees his big brother ripping open a gazillion presents.

Nancy said...

Congratulations! Have a great holiday and take lots of pictures!!!

tallulah said...

Oh. My. Gosh! I love to hear stories about high school sweethearts because I CAN'T IMAGINE IN MY WILDEST DREAMS MARRYING SOMEBODY I DATED IN HIGH SCHOOL! Now that is down-right scary.
What a wonderful reminder of how a color can affect us and give us warm fuzzies.

Heather said...

What a great story. Congrats on your baby and on your long relationship with your hubby. That is rare these days.

Alex Elliot said...

Have a wonderful first Christmas. Christmas Eve is a very special day for me because it's the day I found out we were expecting our first baby. This year will be my younger son's first Christmas.

Anonymous said...

I still can't believe you were in HS 20 years ago.

Dude. You're old.

HAHA. *Leaving now*

PunditMom said...

What a great story!

Mayberry Mom, don't feel old. If you are. then I'm ancient ... my 30th H.S. reunion is this year, and I've still got a first-grader hanging on to the leg! (Of course, I tell people I graduated from H.S. when I was 10!)