Lieutenant Brown, Chapter 3...

(To read Chapter 2, click HERE.)

"The best and most beautiful things in this world

cannot be seen or even heard,

but must be felt with the heart."

~Helen Keller

Our first date was lovely. Hood River is a sweet little town, and it was a perfect place to meet and just learn about and enjoy each other. I definitely knew I wanted to see him again, and I was so happy when he said he wanted to see me again, too.

I got home that night and had an email from him, thanking me for driving to Hood River to have lunch with him, and saying he'd had a good time. It was really sweet. That week was Thanksgiving, so I spent most of the week working or with my family, but every day I looked forward to an email from him. And every day I got one. Sometimes two.

Sidenote: I didn't really want to tell too many people about him until I knew if it was something or not, so over Thanksgiving, I didn't even tell my parents about him. Part of me didn't want the pressure of everyone knowing about it (because what if it didn't work out?), and part of me just didn't want to speak prematurely and jinx it. Amy and Sterling knew, and a couple friends, but that was it. So if you're surprised by how long this has been going on and I haven't said anything about it, that's why. Thanks for bearing with me. :)

He called me again the weekend after Thanksgiving and we talked for 4 1/2 hours. Honestly, when I got off the phone and saw how long we'd spoken, I was SHOCKED. I don't think I've EVER talked to anyone on the phone for that long in my life. And it felt like maybe an hour or two, but certainly not almost five. It was really nice. At the end of our conversation, he asked again what my next few weekends looked like and if I would be free. When I told him I didn't have much going on, he asked again if he could come visit me in Portland. This time I agreed. But I told him that if he were going to drive all the way to Portland, then he didn't need to worry about what we'd do, I would take care of planning the date, and he said that would be fine.

Remember how I said we have A LOT in common? Well, one of those things we happen to share is the same Master's degree from Gonzaga. I love that he went to grad school at Gonzaga, because it means, not only does he know Spokane, he also understands why I love my alma mater so much, and it also means we are both highly educated people. I think those things are important. Anyway, to put himself through grad school, he joined the Reserve Officers' Training Corps (ROTC), which means he is an officer in the Army (hence the titles of these posts--he is currently a First Lieutenant and will likely be promoted this summer). He's in the Reserves, so he's a member of the National Guard, which basically means he has a commitment of one weekend a month (called drill weekends) and two weeks every summer for 8 years. There is a possibility he could be deployed, but he assures me, at this point, it is unlikely his unit will be called up.

The next weekend was his drill weekend, so we agreed he would come down the following weekend. We continued to email more and more, at least twice a day. At the urging of my friend Debi, the night before his drill weekend was supposed to start, I called him for the first time. (Debi told me I needed to be the one to call him once in awhile so he'd know I was interested and he wasn't the only one making an effort. And since I wasn't feeling well and I knew I wouldn't hear from him for a few days, I decided I wanted to talk to him, too.) We had a really good conversation where I asked a million questions about the Army and the National Guard and what his reponsibilities are, etc. He was really open and honest and patient with my questions and answered them all.

That weekend he left on his drill weekend, and I realized I really missed those daily emails. When he got home Sunday night, I will admit I was thrilled when I got a text from him saying he'd made it home and he would call me the next night. :) He did, and we talked for five hours. :)

To be continued...

(To continue to Chapter 4, click HERE.)