Kids, this is the story of how I met your father {HIMYF for short}. This story is legen…wait-for-it…DARY.
I took my seat at the round table in our Voice and Diction classroom that was adjacent to the small black box theatre. I was 18. It was my first semester as a theatre major, and V&D {an unfortunate shorthand} was a requirement that year.
I knew most everyone in the class since as theatre majors you’re forced to spend every waking moment with each other in classes and rehearsals. There were two unfamiliar faces…one girl who we came to discover was in the international tour of RENT. And one guy – a slightly balding, porcelain-skinned, blue-eyed voice major.
And that’s how I met your dad.
One of the assignments was to read a piece of our choice to have our voice recorded so we could then analyze the way we spoke. I showed up the morning of the assignment having completely forgotten about it. I happened to have my Bible in my backpack, so I read First Corinthians 13, the Love chapter.
Irony, huh kids?
Later, your dad would confess that that’s what grabbed his attention.
Over the course of the semester, we casually chatted and walked to our classes together. Not thinking much about it, I invited him to see me as the lead in that year’s Christmas show. I never thought he would come, but the night of the show, I was sitting in the box office selling tickets…and he showed up. I forgot to mention to him that the show was double cast and didn’t specify which nights I was in the show. So he showed up on the night I wasn’t performing. But he bought a ticket anyway to watch the show. And then came back the next night to watch me perform.
I thought that was so sweet. But I was so clueless, I didn’t even think it was because he liked me. I thought he was just nice. This naivety continued through several more months of friendship.
For the spring semester, the theatre department produced their annual musical. I spent the fall trying to convince your dad to audition since we needed some strong singers to perform in that year’s “The Wizard of Oz” production. He never committed, so when he showed up on the audition night, I was surprised! They made cuts and everyone else was done auditioning, except for me and another girl who were both up for the role of Dorothy. It was just she and I, along with the two directors, left in the musical hall…along with your dad who was waiting for me to finish so he could walk me to my car.
I ended up being cast as Dorothy, and he was the “HahaHohoho and a couple of tralalas” guard at the gate as well as the understudy for the Tin Man. For a month we spent our evenings and Saturdays together in rehearsals. We’d grab dinner or lunch and sit in his car and talk, and the whole time I felt like I was making a really great friend. It didn’t even cross my mind that he liked me, even after he invited his family to come see me in the show and introduced them to me after a performance. “Just meeting my friend’s parents” was all I thought.
I was dense, kids.
The musical performances ended, and we still hung out together. I had to put my dog down, and he was there for me. He invited me to a family birthday function, and I accepted without hesitation. At that point we weren’t officially dating, just best friends. As he was driving me home that April evening, it finally clicked.
“Can I ask you a question?” I asked.
“You can ask me anything.” he said.
“Do you like, LIKE, me?”
“Of course, I LIKE you. A lot.”
I paused. “I LIKE you too.”
I joke and call ours a showbiz romance because our relationship blossomed out of a theatre production. That night we sat by my parents’ pool until 3am when he officially asked me to be his girlfriend. It was the first legitimate relationship for both of us – me being 19 and him 22. We both felt like it was a waste of time dating someone if we couldn’t see ourselves marrying them. And after becoming best friends, marriage was a possibility for both of us.
That August he moved to Colorado to go to school. We dated long distance for a year, and when he finally came home…he asked me to marry him.
The night we got engaged.
A year after he put a ring on my finger, we got married.
And five years later you two came along.
And that, kids, is how I met your father.
LOVED,LOVED this Showbiz romance. Wanted to hear more about how he asked ya. I remember a pic of his proposal…..on some social media site. You guys are amazing and this is the BEST LOVE STORY EVER TOLD. You are blessed Gracie and Cason….so blessed.