Keepsake Award and Story

I got this award last week from Tom @ Being Michael's Daddy.

He writes about his fatherhood journey with a hilarious son. The stories are always entertaining. Tom also shares the joy of engineering with me. I feel something like a bond of secret brotherhood between us because of that. Stop by and meet Tom for yourself by clicking here. You'll be glad you did.

The rules of this award state that I have to share a sweet or funny keepsake that tells something about myself. Honestly just typing the term sweet keepsake has made me a little nauseous. This is not typically my type of thing, but I will not reject a reward due to my squeamishness. I also have to bestow this award on ten others. Tom has already given the award to several blogs that I read so I have left them out. I read tons of great blogs, many of which are linked on the right. Everyone I read deserves an award, but the blogs I have chosen for this particular award are below. After visiting them check out my story.

4 Nuts in a Nutshell
Mommy Kingdom
Daddy Diaries
Frogs in My Formula
The Adventures of Super Mega Dad
Unraveling Life's Mysteries
She's Just Another Manic Mommy
Heir Apparent
Buried with Children
Burgh Baby

The story of how I met Arica starts in a dark dingy bar downtown. One night after several drinks I ran into her brother in said bar. We were acquaintances, but not much more. Somehow our pickled minds found their way to the topic of softball. Aaron said he was putting together a softball team. It would be a grand time. Was I interested? Of course I was. I love baseball and to some degree its ugly cousin softball. We agreed that I would join his mighty team.

A couple days later he called to see if I was still interested in playing. I had no recollection of the conversation from the bar. Our phone call went something like this.

He said, "This is Aaron. Do you still want to play softball."

Me:"........"

Aaron: "Bobby's my old lady."

Me: "I know who you are. What was that you said about playing softball?"

Aaron: "You said you wanted to play softball with us this summer."

Me: "I don't remember that, but I do want to play softball."

It turns out no matter how much I drink I still know how to answer questions pertaining to athletic participation. Our league started and we were awful. It was a fun group of guys, but we absolutely stunk. One afternoon out of the blue Aaron called me up. He asked if I had a girlfriend. I didn't so he wanted to set me up with someone. I said OK. I will try anything once. Then he said the someone he wanted me to meet was his sister. That was certainly unexpected, but I was ready to meet her anyway.

We were scheduled to meet at one of our games. Before the game I was looking all around. I only saw one girl at our game. She was very pretty, but looked nothing like Aaron. I thought there is no way that is his sister. She doesn't look anything like him, and she is way too pretty to be setup with me. I gave up before the game even started.

Having decided she was not around I headed out quickly after the game. I was halfway across the parking lot when I hear Aaron panting and hollering my name. He ran up and asked if I wanted to meet his sister. That was the plan so we met.

Of course the beautiful blond at the game was Aaron's sister, Arica. At this point I put on one of the best shows of dorkiness ever witnessed. I can be a bit shy when meeting someone, especially someone of the opposite sex. Add to that the fact that her mother and brother were there for our first meeting. It had to be one of the worst first impressions ever made.

The next week we went on a date. A little over a year later we were married. George Costanza once said that all really great couples have a great meeting story. He reasoned that is why he never had a lasting relationship. Conversely that must be why things are working out so well for us. We have a meeting story that we will never forget.