Monday Musings on Sipping Dark Roast Together for 20 Years

Today is filled with excitement and anticipation as our family celebrates Mark and I navigating life together for twenty years and two young men are initiated into Freshman and Senior status through the all-powerful and official Orientation.

Twenty years ago today, I met my soon-to-be husband in a brick and cement Army dining hall on Fort Lewis in Washington state. It was my week to be the ID checker during meals in the cafeteria, 'cause there were tons of people busting down the doors to get to the dining hall food who weren't authorized, or something. Mark says he saw me the day prior, but I didn't see him. I was probably intent on finding the Army food renegade. 

The next day, he poised himself to drum up some conversation at the check in station and was confident enough to ask me if I wanted to grab a cup of coffee after my surveillance of the area was complete. 

He turned out to be a pretty cool guy that had a lot to say about music, local hiking trails, and his truck. He was tall, college-educated, and handsome and offered to give me a tour of Seattle in the near future. He scribbled his phone number on a tiny piece of paper and suggested I call him for another cup of coffee sometime.

Having recently arrived on base, I was working and staying in temporary quarters until I was assigned to my detachment barracks. During the move to the 62nd Medical Group, Mark's number ended up with that pile in another dimension where thousands of mis-matched socks reside. I just hoped I'd run into him again sometime. 

After settling in, I looked through the Base phone book for the name that wouldn't leave my mind. There were six of them and I called each of them to see if the other line matched my hope, but I was unsuccessful. Little did I know, Mark was waiting for me to call and he pleaded with the guy who was on Charge of Quarters duty to wake him at anytime if I called. The soldier decided to let Mark sleep, since he had been awake all night. 

A bit unnerved at the young man's decision, Mark decided to go to where he thought my detachment might be located. It was late morning when he approached a female coming out of the medical barracks and asked, "I know this is a crazy question, but do you happen to know a new soldier to the medical unit who is from Ohio and she..." Before he could finish, the PFC said that he must be talking about Tricia, the girl she just had breakfast with. 

Not sure what happened to security that day, but a knock at my door revealed a hallway scene of a most elated strapping young man and a relieved young lady. After exchanging stories and laughing about the whole thing, we were able to grab that second cup of coffee, and we've been sipping our dark roasts together ever since!