16 years ago today . . .

. . . I asked a Marine to dance. My roommate and I were at a large dance club in downtown Washington DC called "The Dome" (affectionately known as "The Do Me" by many of its patrons - isn't that quaint?) I'm sure it's long gone. I was 22 and a student at George Mason University, also working full time for an Air Force General.

The Dome allowed 18-20-year-olds to enter, but only those over 21 were given "I can drink" bracelets. I spotted a tall, skinny, dark-haired (just like I like 'em!) Marine lurking around the dance floor while his drunken Jarhead friends spun manically near the deejay's booth. I followed him at a distance, positioning myself strategically so that he could ask me to dance. Others came up and asked me to dance as I stood there. "No, thanks!" I told them. I was holding out for the shy one with the ever-so-slightly-too-large front teeth (I thought he was cute, but I figured this minor flaw might keep him from thinking he was all that).

I had always dated military guys. My friend Kevin used to say, "Claudia's entertained more troops than Bob Hope." That wasn't entirely true (I swear! Plus, I had never dated a Navy guy. Only Army, Air Force, Marines, and Coast Guard.) Maybe I liked the fact that they were disciplined and neat and could fold their underwear into six-inch squares - I didn't want to risk spending the rest of my life picking up someone's socks off the floor after all.

Finally, on that evening back in 1992 . . . I gave up on the "stand around and look cute" tactic and asked him to dance. I soon found out that he was only 20 and could not buy me a drink. Strike one. But, I liked him. Later he walked me to my car and uttered this fateful line: "You have a blue car? *I* have a blue car!" Clearly, we were meant to be together.

We dated for a year and eventually decided to go ahead and live in sin. I think my mom was tired of looking at him in her living room all the time.

Over time I learned that he:
  • Steps into the shower and THEN turns on the water. If this isn't a sure sign of mental illness, I don't know what is.
  • Reads comic books on purpose.

  • Is a Republican. (Oooh, I just threw up in my mouth a little when I typed that.) I think he is starting to see the light, though. He voted for Obama in the primary this year.
  • Clips a V into the toenails on his big toes to prevent them from becoming ingrown or something. I have been stabbed in the calf with those things in the dead of night and it's not a good time.
  • Walks into McDonald's and insists on reading the menu from top to bottom as though he has NO EARTHLY IDEA what they might possibly serve there.
  • Forces restaurant servers to (verbally) list every single beer they carry and then invariably orders the very first one that was mentioned.
And . . .

I married him anyway.

Comments

Anonymous said…
Awwww...so sweet! This is Father? ;)
June 6, 2008 at 1:15 PM
Anonymous said…
Your wedding picture is so pretty! If you want to drive our way to celebrate, we can babysit A. There is a bar in town with mechanical bull-- no better way to say "I love you" than by dedicating a bull ride to your favorite Marine :)
June 6, 2008 at 3:50 PM
Mary said…
What a great looking couple!!;) What a sweet love story, is the honeymoon over??;) Some Sat. (easiest day for me especially when Rick is up north....) can I come there and watch the kid and you can go on a hot date?? I promise not to eat everything in the cupboards!!
June 7, 2008 at 8:01 PM
Jen said…
Awww! Congratulations and Happy Anniversary!
June 7, 2008 at 9:48 PM
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

It's been a minute, but let's talk about my b*o*o*b*s

Image
I'm in the sixth grade. I'm sitting on the floor at my friend Sharon's house. Rachel is there, too. My well-meaning friends turn to me and gently let me know that I "really don't need to bother wearing a bra." They aren't wrong. I'm wearing one, but the situation doesn't particularly warrant it.  Two years later, I found myself sporting a C cup. My mom, a talented seamstress, made me a dress at about that time. It was a slim-fitting column dress with a matching jacket, as I recall. The white fabric had large polka dots; we jokingly called it the Wonder Bread dress. My mom took my measurements. 36-24-36 At some point in history, those numbers were considered "perfect measurements" for a woman. This was 1984; I'd like to think the world as a whole is less concerned about such things these days. I'm confident my daughter has no earthly idea what her measurements are. She just knows she's cute.  Growing up with a fun array of medi...
Read more

On Being Patriotic

The list of adjectives I assign to myself is pretty long: clumsy, organized, competent, uptight, etc. One that might surprise you: patriotic. I fully understand what it means to be an American and am darned happy about living here. But, I have a beef (that part won't surprise you). I've grown tired of certain segments of the population thinking that they've cornered the market on patriotism or that they can dictate precisely how the rest of us express ourselves when it comes to our shared country and flag. Sometimes it seems like the Toby-Keith-boot-in-yer-ass brand of patriotism drowns out the rest of us. For the record, I don't believe that patriotism requires a love of NASCAR, a disdain for immigrants, a Republican voting record, or a preference for country music. Nor does it require adherence to a specific religion. I've seen Facebook posts from some of my friends and acquaintances that call for all of us to return to the "Christian principles on which ...
Read more

14 Weeks

Image
My baby is leaving me in 14 weeks.  She and I started touring colleges in May of 2022. When I applied to colleges back in 1988, I was an English major so there were no auditions. Colleges basically just said, "Sounds good. Come on in." I was the first person in my immediate family to go to college and as a whole, I don't think we understood the importance of campus visits and such. I ended up being fairly miserable that first year until I transferred to a school closer to home. For my daughter, I wanted to make sure she had an opportunity to see lots of college campuses so that she had the best shot at figuring out what she wants out of the college experience. I wanted her to look at elements like campus size and location, diversity, activities, distance from home, and distance from the nearest "big city" (since performers often head to larger cities with active theatre scenes after college).  Last summer, we began the daunting process known as "getting int...
Read more