Ten years ago last month, ...

Friday, May 07, 2010

... I was watching The Mummy, that masterpiece of romantic cinema, with my grad school movie buddy, whom you now know as Mrs. Van Horn, at her apartment.


Under its spell, we began making out. Romance quickly became love and we were engaged before the end of the year. Ten years is a long time, but it seems to have gone by really fast. In some ways, it seems like we have always been together, and yet it still feels brand new, if that makes any sense.

Probably the best and most important thing about my relationship with Mrs. Van Horn is that we are friends. From the time we met as members of a mutual friend's wedding party in 1998, I liked her and I was struck by her beauty. I got her number from our friend and we went out once, but I almost immediately lost her to a rival. Some time after that wound down, though, our friend suggested she contact me as someone who might be good to hang out with sometimes. So I heard from her and we'd occasionally go out together.

One of those times, we talked on her porch until something like 2:00 or 3:00 in the morning. Being about as clumsy with women as I can be dexterous with the pen, I asked her if she was interested in more. She said she wasn't, but that she still wanted to be friends. That f-word told me that we were going nowhere romantically, so I decided I wouldn't pursue her. I told her that being friends was fine, but that if she ever changed her mind, she would have to make the first move.

So we were movie buddies. We became shopping buddies, too, when I wanted to buy clothes and realized that I could stand to have a woman's perspective on my purchases. We took dance classes together, because she liked dancing and I wanted to meet people. She noticed herself becoming jealous whenever it was time to swap partners. She eventually had me over for that movie and ensnared me.

My in-laws tell me that it seems like everyone knew she liked me before she did from the way she'd talk about me. Close, but no cigar. I didn't see it coming, either, when I innocently sat down to watch The Mummy that Friday night.

To this day I don't think we've ever watched that whole movie straight through.

Thanks for ten wonderful years, sweetie!

-- CAV

Updates

Today
: (1) Minor edits. (2) Showed post to wife, who, after getting a good laugh at my expense, helpfully reminded me that we were engaged before the year was out. We got married the following year. Tip: Don't get married too close to New Year's or you'll always screw up the year you got married!

10 comments:

Lynne said...

Based on personal, I mean empirical evidence, there is nothing quite like seeing the one who brung ya enjoying his time dancing with others to stir up possessive feelings. Why is this part of the mating ritual not better known?

Congratulations on finding the secret to enjoying The Mummy.

Gus Van Horn said...

Good question!

I think if I had known that, I'd have taken up dance lessons a lot sooner.

mtnrunner2 said...

>Ten years ago

Nice. You surpassed my personal best two years ago :) hah!

I like the leads in that movie a lot. I didn't even really pay that much attention to Brendan Fraser until then, but I thought he was great. And, hey... Rachel Weiss.

Gus Van Horn said...

Brendan Fraser and Rachel Weiss both are in it?

Learn something new every day!

(There really does need to be an emoticon for raising one eyebrow...)

Jim May said...

Tip: Don't get married too close to New Year's or you'll always screw up the year you got married!


D'oh! My wife and I got married on New Year's Eve last year. I figured that it would make the date easier to remember.

That chatting to 3AM thing is a big tip that something's going on there, whether the participants own up to it or not. We knew it right then, however.... neither one of us needed the dancing bit to wake the other one up. That being said, it *is* a good way to shake things up in that department.

Anonymous said...

<8-)

As long as you're willing to settle for a unibrow,
gus, there is! Or else he's wearing a party hat. Or he's Bill O'Reilly. Although that might be better represented as

-8-)

C. Andrew

Gus Van Horn said...

Jim,

Oh, the DATE is burned into my skull forever, alright, but the year is tricky. It may help to remember something else from that year that's really good or really bad. But both years around my wedding blur together in that department, so I have to stop and figure it out to nail it down.

Gus

Gus Van Horn said...

C.,


Perhaps /8->

Or: (That was said while saising an eyebrow!)

Gus

Jim May said...

We got married right after moving to Vegas, so that will help there. (In the Clark County courthouse note: she drew the line at being married by Elvis.)

Gus Van Horn said...

But which version of Elvis? Young or old? Maybe you didn't try hard enough...