Gone to a Drive-In Theatre...

I have to put this in because it was one of the best moments of my life...

I had never been to the drive-in until I was 18. This was the summer I met Joe.

A little history...

Joe got home from his mission in August of 98. He was living at home, working and going school. He had big plans and a lot of things he wanted to get done in life. He wasn't looking for a wife, in fact he had decided he wasn't even going to start looking until he turned 25. I was only 18, earning money for my second year of college. I wanted to travel, experience life and just have a good time - marriage wasn't on either of our minds....Needless to say, fate had a different plan. It's weapon of choice - a beat up sorry pickup truck and the drive-in.

Joe and I met for the first time on May 29th, 1999. The first outing we ever went on was a dirt bike ride to a reservoir behind Joe's parents house. We swam and talked, but weren't overly impressed. We both felt like we had NOTHING in common. We were about as different as two people could be. Fortunately for me, the pickings out in Mass for LDS singles were pretty slim and so Joe decided to ask me out again. This time...the drive-in.

Joe picked me up in his little brothers truck. It was a navy blue pickup that had the bed of the truck literally tied to the cab with bailing twine (for those of you that don't know what that is, it is the orange string that farmers use to hold together bails of hay - not terribly reassuring). There were more holes in the bed than truck. Joe had thrown a twin mattress in the back of the truck and then lined the sides of the truck with bags of popcorn, snacks and soda...not to bad an idea, he just used the wrong vehicle to execute!

As we were driving to the Theatre we kept seeing these amazing explosions on the road behind us, but neither of us really knew what they were. When we arrived at the drive-in, we had a mattress and some blankets, but no snacks. Apparently they had all fallen through the various holes in the bed of the truck on our way there (the lack of soda's explained the mysterious explosions we witnessed on our way there)!! We had a pretty good laugh and made an instant connection. We snuggled in for the double feature to begin, it was Austin Powers 2 and another show I don't remember.

That was the beginning of what we have affectionately called, the best summer ever. We hung out every weekend and as often as work, and school, would allow during the weeks. We went paint balling, jumped off bridges, went to shows in Boston, visited historical sites, etc. I can honestly say that by the end of the summer Joe had become my best friend.

Needless to say, I will never forget my first trip to the drive in, and I will always be grateful for that summer. It was most definitely the most fun I'd ever had - a real adventure. We've been back to the drive-in a few times since, even brought the kids along. We'll never be able to have that summer back, but in so many ways our lives have gotten better, richer and fuller than they were back then...who could have guessed?!

(For those who want to know, Joe followed me back to Utah when I returned to finish school and got accepted to the U of U. We were engaged Sept 6th and married Nov 27th 1999, only two days shy of being exactly 6mths from "Hello" to wedded bliss!)