A Love Story in Three Acts: Finale

Exposition
Act 1, Scene 2: Cindy
Act 2, Scene 1: A Chance Meeting
Act 2, Scene 2: Summer of Love
Act 2, Scene 3: "Tuesday's" Night
Act 2, Scene 4: Reunion
Act 3, Scene 1: The Campbell Connection
Act 3, Scene 2: "God Bless the Broken Road..."
Act 3, Scene 3: "...That Led Me Straight To You"

And Finally....
A Love Story in Three Acts: Finale

The Epilogue
What happened to all?

I talked to Cindy not too long ago... I actually got in touch with her, just to catch up, mostly because I wanted to know what to say about her in this posting. She's living in South Alabama still, out of the Air Force, and dating a guy named Mike who lives in Ohio. She's been to several Duran Duran concerts, which was her favorite band (I do remember that from when we dated) and is happily in her early-30s. I don't expect there'll be much more contact between the two of us.

As for Amy Wible, she got married. When I said that her going-away party was the last time I'd seen her, I wasn't trying to be poetic or melodramatic, I was being serious. I really haven't seen her in going on five years now.

I've heard from her a few times over the years, though I can count them on one hand, and they were all on email. She got married in the fall of 2005, and lives in Mississippi where she and her husband both work at a church. I'll be honest with you... when I read that she had married, it made my heart smile. Though the book had been closed on my relationship with Amy for years, the book has now been picked up and put onto the shelf... it had come full circle somehow, and was now finished. What started as friends via the 'net turned into a five year love for me, and five years later, I'm married to the love of my life, and she to hers.

I told her I was going to do this column, so it'll be interesting to see if she reads it. God used her to have a major impact on my life and who I am as a person.

As for the love of my life, it all came together in the early winter of 2002. She said from the time I revealed my interests in her, around September 2002 to the time I finally committed, I waffled a bit. I don't doubt it... but I knew what was going to happen.

And it did. On February 3rd, 2003, I took a job with Starbucks, and began training at the Mtn. Brook location. I also did some work at the Crestline store, and at the Galleria (will never do that again) before I helped to open the Vestavia location, which was the first drive-thru store in Alabama.

By early summer, I had worked to pay off a couple of credit cards and was starting to save money for the "ring". I had planned on asking Steph the big question in early July, but the ring didn't work out like I wanted to. Tommy proposed to Amy that same weekend, so it was good to let them have all the attention.

I went to visit her parents, and asked them both if I could take their daughter's hand in marriage... the same family that Steph said probably wouldn't like me just smiled and said "Welcome to the family."

So, on a particular Saturday in late July, Steph came in from Atlanta, GA, where she still lived... she almost didn't come that weekend, but I convinced Jennifer Pritchett (who also was living in Atlanta) to come back to B'ham, so Steph would have someone to ride with. I told Stephanie to be ready by 11am on Saturday, because we were having a BBQ lunch with Jon Paepcke & his lovely wife Jennifer (who just became a mom... congrats!) It was entirely plausible, having already made, and then broken, plans with Jon & Jenn several times before this.

As Stephanie is coming down the steps of her parents house, she glances out of the glass that frame the from door... and instead of seeing me, she sees Michael Nipp peering into the house. She opens the door and sees both Michael and Sean Hall there, telling her I'm not coming, but that she is to come with them. Before she leaves, her sister Angie is there shoving a basket and a camera into her hands. She gets into Sean's minivan, where she is treated to sparking apple cider, and is given a notecard. The note card contains the first line of The Proclaimer's song "I'm Gonna Be (500 Miles)" and a greeting.

From there, she began being taxied from one place to another, each a different place that we frequented or that had special meaning to us...

• Michael & Sean took her to the Vestavia Rave Theater, where she met Tom Johnson & Jill Berthon (now Johnson). Tom & Jill gave her another note card that continued the song (as all of them would) and the letter (as all of them would.) They also gave her a certificate guaranteeing that I would take Steph to see the new Freaky Friday.
• Tom & Jill took her to the Alabama Theatre, where she met Tommy McLeod and Amy Vos (now McLeod), who gave her a copy of "Singing in the Rain" on dvd... I wanted "Seven Brides for Seven Brothers", a movie we had seen there recently, but I couldn't find a good copy of it. Incidentally, Amy told me later that Steph had commented how she didn't know when I would propose, and how there wasn't any way it would be soon. Amy just smiled.
• Tommy & Amy took Steph back to Vestavia, to Bath Junkie, where she worked part time. There she met Katy Scott (now Sexton) and Ashley O'Neal (now Nipp), and the owner, Stephanie Cedillo (now Cedillo). She got a little Bath Junkie gift basket.

By the way, the entire time I'm at the Deuce. After each person finished, they came back to the Deuce to hang out... Michael even cleaned the bathroom. Well, you couldn't say it was a deep clean, but he tried. He wiped, anyway.

The whole time, I'm sitting patiently. Each "duo" would call our Deuce Command Center, with Ty Coffey at the helm, and report that they had picked her up and were on their way to their next stop... they would say stuff like "the vanilla is in the cream pie" and "8-ball is in the corner pocket" and "the rabbit chose the blue pill", all letting us know everything was going swimmingly. They would all report later that when Steph saw the next duo, she would claim excitedly "oh, are you my next leg?"

And bear in mind, she had no idea I was proposing until late, late in the day. Anyway...

• Katy and Ashley drove her down Lorna Road to the Tropical Smoothie, where she met The Wookiee for lunch. He gave her two Tropical Smoothie cards for free lunch, which Steph commented "He must really love me to give these up." She also thought it was strange that Wookiee wouldn't make eye contact with her the entire lunch (he would tell me later that it was because he was so nervous he might say let something slip)
• The Wookiee then drove Steph to Sybil Johnson's house, where she was given a Disney ornament, and met up with Daniel Powell and his girlfriend, soon fiance then wife Jennifer.
• Daniel & Jennifer took her to the Disney Store in the Galleria, where she met Drew Morris and Tammy McLeod (who just got married... not to Drew, though). I had gone earlier that day and purchased The Lion King on dvd. The cast members at Disney were all excited to help, so they held the prize until Drew & Tammy got there.
• She left with Drew and Tammy, and went to Common Ground, the college and career ministry of Valleydale Baptist's old campus, to meet with Tad Roose & Shawn Sharp, who gave her a CD I had made full of fun songs.
• Tad and Shawn took her to Ken & Lynn Nipp's home (parents of Michael) where she met up with Stephanie Nipp (now Rector) and Sarah Hasha. They gave her a 50s and 60s CD collection I had made (18 CDs, over 300 songs!)
• Steph and Sarah drove her to the Summit, up to April Cornell (which is now closed) where I had earlier made arrangements for her gift. A hat stand for one of her many fashionable hats she likes to wear. I had talked to Lee, who apparently just luuuved Justin Glenn. Justin was there with his girlfriend Jennifer Pritchett (now Glenn) to meet Steph.
• Justin & Jennifer took her across town to the home of Darryl and SuLyn Wine, our Sunday Scho... er, Life Connection teachers at the time. She met with SuLyn and Leisha, wife of Sean Hall, who took her to the bedroom and prayed with her. It was at this time that Stephanie began to suspect something out of the ordinary. Then they drove her to Books-a-Million in Hoover to meet Earl Salser.
• Dr. Earl gave her a copy of Vicki Thompson's "Nerd in Shining Armor", a book that she had joked about possibly reading a few weeks prior. (She actually did read it, like, two months ago). Earl took her to Starbucks in Vestavia, where she met Ty.
• The Good Reverend Ty Coffey presented her with a Starbucks gift card (one that she just told me she still has never used) and then brought her back to The Deuce.

Okay, so everyone, with the exception of Katy Scott, came back to the Deuce and was there when she walked in. She came in, saw everyone and was a little surprised. Then, some people in the room (I know Steph Nipp, Lynn Nipp and Sarah Hasha took part) read the lines to the song "After All", which described our relationship to a tee. And I came out, smiled, got on one knee and said "Stephanie... I'm not asking you to be my wife. I'm asking you for the honor of being your husband. Will you mar..."

"YEEEESS!!!!" she screamed, before I could finish. Everyone cheered, Wookiee got teary eyed, there were hugs all around, and Lori Smith had arranged for all of us to have dinner at Ruby Tuesday's down the road (it was the only place we could find seats for 20 people).

So, there were about 27 or so people involved in this, and everything worked perfectly... I've often said it was probably because everyone had the mindset of "If this is getting screwed up, its NOT going to be my fault".

By the way, there is a framed collage of the day's journey in our apartment, if you ever want to see it.

And on February 28th, 2004, with Ty Coffey officiating his first wedding, with Tyler Campbell, Jason Demastus and Justin Glenn ushering, Michael Nipp, Shawn Sharp, Tad Roose, Tom Johnson and Tommy McLeod as groomsman, with Meredith Quintana, Jenn Pritchett, Ashley O'Neal and Delisa Smith as bridesmaids, with The Wookiee as my best man, with Susie as the Maid of Honor and her sister Angie as the Matron of Honor, I said my vows with Stephanie Campbell.

I am truly blessed and honored to be married to the love of my life and my best friend in the whole wide world, in a marraige that I don't think would have worked with Cindy, Amy Wible or anyone else for that matter. God truly knows what He's doing in matters of the heart.

Oh, and we had the coolest weddding program I've ever seen. I'm just sayin.

And that's my love story in three acts. Stephanie has said I missed a few parts here and there, but nothing important enough to the story for me to change it...

Thanks for indulging me.

A Love Story in Three Acts: Act 3, Scene 3

Scroll down to links on bottom right for previous entries.

"...That Let Me Straight To You"
September 2002. I was really confused. And yet, it was clear. God was leading me to be with Stephanie Campbell. And somehow, I knew. Somehow, I always knew. From the first moment I had seen her back in 2000, I knew that something was different about her. I'm not making that up, either... I mean, what was I going to say when I first met her? "I'm going to marry you one day, Stephanie"? She'd run very very fast, which is a lot to say, because she hates running.

In Bible study, I told the guys that I was praying about going out with Stephanie Campbell. As in, for real. I knew that if we dated, that would be it. We'd get married. Needless to say, the guys were estatic. Tom, Ty, Shawn and Michael all had big smiles and were totally pumped about it... Michael even came to me afterwards and in a classic, Michael-being-emotional moment, said "Hey... I just want you to know that I'm really excited for you and Stephanie, and I love both of you alot and I'm really just pumped about what God is doing and..." and he rambled on lovingly for a few minutes. This is why we love Michael.

My 10 year high school reunion was upcoming... Samson has a big party for the 5, 10, 15 and 20 year graduates during the football season of the anniversary year. I invited Stephanie to my high school reunion weekend, and she accepted. So, we went to Samson, Alabama, for the weekend, and it was great to get away. No Deuce (one of those rare, rare times when 'no Deuce' is a good thing), no Birmingham, no pressure... just two good friends attending a party with one of those friend's high school friends.

It was the weekend that I look back and peg as "it"... as in, the weekend that I knew Stephanie and I would be together forever. At the game, she got to meet several of my friends I hadn't seen in years, some since the day we all left graduation. The next day was a cookout at Stan McDuffie's parents house, and we were all there together. Everyone kept pulling me aside and asking if she was my wife, or my girlfriend, and if not, why not. Tammy Thomas told me bluntly, "You need to be dating her. She is just precious. I really like her." Not that the person I wanted to spend the rest of my life with depended on what a half-drunk Tammy Thomas thought, but she had a point.

It was just fun to watch Steph interact with Tammy and Stan and my best friends from high school, Chris, Greg and Tonya, and also Jennifer Lambert and Stephanie Phillips and Leslie Morgan and such... while I re-hashed the Seniors '93 Spring Break Cruise with Susan Ward and Joey Stephens, I watched Steph listen to Felicia Farris and Tammy Ward tell her stories about me and such... its like that scene in the movie "Hellraiser", when the cube just finally clicks, and all the pieces just... well, fit. Well, without the hooks flying out and ripping my skin off, but you know what I mean.

A few days later, I called Stephanie late at night. I then proceeded to tell her all the things that bugged me about her. Her stupid baby voice she liked to use (she doesn't use it anymore). Her idiosyncrasies that bothered me. The way she did stuff that made me really, really annoyed. And after all this, when Steph was like "what the crap?", I then told her that I was falling for her. And I wanted to see where it went. I was going to give it another few months before I totally committed.

I was really delaying the inevitable, because I knew at this point She Was It, but I still put it off for a month or so. I mean, if I was going to commit to one girl and give her the rest of my life, I could wait until November to do so, right?

Of course, Stephanie was really annoyed by this. And she was even more annoyed when I elected to go to Sybil's fall retreat (including the infamous "7 Degrees Celsius" tobyMac dance) instead of coming to Steph's niece's birthday party. Apparently, her sister Angie, whom I still had not met, was married to Randy, and had two kids, Madeline and Benjamin, and Madeline had these elaborate birthday Disney themed parties, with the family dressing up as different characters. This time around was Peter Pan, and Stephanie was going to be Captain Hook, and she wanted me to be Smee... I was going to the retreat. This didn't sit well with her.

She also invited me to come to the beach with her family that November, to which I also declined. Apparently, her family goes to the beach every year for Thanksgiving, but not only did I have to work and didn't have the vacation to spend on it, I didn't relish the thought of spending a week with her family that I had never even met. This didn't make her happy either, but in hindsight, even she admits its probably a good thing I didn't come.

Christmas 2002, and A Very Deuce Christmas party was our biggest Deuce party ever, with close to 70 people walking through the door. I spent much of the night bouncing around the room, making coffee for people, talking to guests--including girls--and didn't spend alot of time with Steph. This was the night that Amy Vos told Stephanie how wonderful she was, and how she needed to just move on from me, that God has another plan. (funny, because this came a few days after Laura DeGarmo informed me that there's no reason why I shouldn't be with Stephanie, because "she's so pretty and godly and wonderful and..." to which I told her we were dating, and she smiled and hugged me, for whatever reason).

She invited me to her big family Christmas, which is two-fold... first, a big gathering of one side of the family, then a big gathering of the other. I don't remember which side I met during the first one, but I remember getting lost in Greystone trying to find her house, then walking in the front door to stares of people standing there, then introducing myself as being with Stephanie. Seems like the whole family was excited that Stephanie had a boy with her. She's not gay!!

Shortly thereafter, I was invited to her immediately family Christmas steak dinner, also a yearly tradition. This was just wonderful, because not only was I totally smitten and falling for Stephanie, I just fell in love with her family too.

This is how God brought us together at last. A few months later, in January of 2003, I was sitting in the Mt. Brook Starbucks with my pal Katy, talking to her friend Kerry Walls, whom later became my friend too. Kerry told me of this Starbucks "Job Fair" they were having to staff a new location Vestavia Hills, and I immediately thought this would be a good idea, because I needed the extra money... if I was going to pay off my credit card and other debt, plus buy an engagment ring, I had to have extra money... and it didn't hurt that Kerry was smokin' hot, so Starbucks seemed like a good idea, you know, for a part time, short term thing.

And you can see how the rest turned out...

Next: Epilogue

A Love Story in Three Acts: Act 3, Scene 2

Exposition
Act 1, Scene 1: Cindy
Act 2, Scene 1: A Chance Meeting
Act 2, Scene 2: Summer of Love
Act 2, Scene 3: "Tuesday's" Night
Act 2, Scene 4: Reunion
Act 3, Scene 1: The Campbell Connection

"God Bless the Broken Road..."
And now comes the most painful part of all of this. 2002.By January, I realized I wasn't going to date Lori... or rather, she wasn't going to date me. This year was the absolute pinnacle of The Deuce, by the way. People coming over all the time, games, Smash Brothers, Tetris and guitars were being played constantly, and things were happening pretty much 24/7.

And suddenly joining our group of people who were coming over constantly was Alex Milner and Erin Whidden. They went to a Bible study over at Fish Page's house (her name was actually Felicia, but everyone called her Fish), and they were Deuce connected through Tommy McLeod, whom they knew from the previous summer's mission trip to Seattle, Washington.

Alex and I became buddies, so I accompanied her to Fish's Bible study where I met one redhead named Melanie Dill. And Melanie and I became very, very good friends. It was about this time that Stephanie and I had a lengthy conversation one night... well, we actually had many lengthy, late night conversations. It was during one of these she told me that yes, she was in love with me. It took her moving to Atlanta for her to realize it, but she figured out how she missed me, how she missed talking to me, how I was unlike any other guy she'd ever known, and how she knew now how she felt about it. She would later tell me that what did it for her was how we would email every day when she lived here... and when I suddenly stopped emailing her, it all clicked for her.

Naturally, I should have said "What? I love you too! Finally!" and we'd have probably gotten married a year earlier... but for me, at least at first, it wasn't what I wanted to hear. I mean, I heard someone once before say how they felt about me--I mean, it wasn't "I love you", but it was meaningful--only to be shot down when I gave in and fell too. So, I wasn't about to risk that again... not less than a year after I had finally gotten over the last girl I gave my heart too.

Melanie and I continued to hang out. There was something about her, I wasn't sure what it was... well, yeah, I was sure. I was in awe of her spiritual walk. She was on fire, and you couldn't help but feel the same when you were around her. We were constantly hanging out at the Deuce, meeting up for dinner, having deep theological discussions, praying together and everything, all the while, Steph is watching from the outside, just dying. She told me later that she knew Lori and I would never be together, so that wasn't a worry... but she said she couldn't live up to Melanie. And at the time, I believed that to be true.

Melanie, while a pretty girl, wasn't someone I would have gone out with before. Not by a long shot. And truly, we never actually dated (though Fish would later dispute this), even though we did discuss dating once. We both figured whatever happened would happen, and we would just continue to be friends and let God take care of it.

Stephanie and I would see each other on the weekends, usually in a group setting. She signed up for Star Wars Celebration with Michael, Ashley, Tommy and Ty, and it killed me because I wanted to go so badly but couldn't afford it. I elected to go on the 2002 Beach Retreat with Sybil's group. This is how life went for most of the spring... I would hang out with the Deuce group, I would hang out with Melanie, I would hang out with Stephanie and so on.

But somehow, Stephanie had become and remained my best friend. It just happened. When stuff happened, she was the first person I wanted to tell. When I felt down, maybe I'd call Melanie... but mostly, I called Stephanie. It had been this way since the previous fall, even the previous summer. I had learned to selfishly lean on her, but not be there when she wanted to lean back.

Everyone went from wondering why we weren't together to telling her that while I might be a good friend, I was a loser to date. Michael told her this. Ashley didn't like me because of it. Wookiee told Steph this. Tom and Shawn and Ty and others all told her "Move on, Steph. I don't know what his problem is." But she couldn't do it.

Summer rolled around, and Melanie and I began to hang out less and less. Why, I wasn't sure... she suddenly stopped returning my phone calls, and we were supposed to get together to play tennis like, five times--and it never happened. I was given an invitation by Alex and Fish to come with the Shades Mountain group to spend a week doing missions on Coney Island and Brooklyn in New York City, and I felt God calling me to go. So, I did.

A lot happened during the trip, but one thing that seemed small then, but turned out to be a major turning point was a deep two hour conversation I had with Melanie about the two of us. I told her that I had considered pursuing her, though this was really just a last ditch attempt to save our friendship. While I'm very outspoken and outgoing, I'm also a very personal person... there's a wall there that I don't let a lot of people come through, a wall that holds within it the personal part of me--my childhood, my fears, the things that make me angry, the things that make me cry... everyone has this wall.

Some people's walls are much more transparent than mine, which was--and is--still pretty solid. While Stephanie had long since been let into this wall, Melanie had also been let into this "inner circle".

And it seemed like she didn't care about it anymore.... I know now that like with Amy, God had our friendship for a season. But unlike Amy, who walked with me to the end of that season where we parted ways, Melanie just stopped being my friend. And it was really, really hard. As in, it pretty much crushed me in New York City. No, I wasn't in love with Melanie, but I had devoted and invested so much of myself into our friendship, given up so much to let her know me (and she doing the same for me) it was nothing short of heart-breaking when I was suddenly told "Okay, we're done now".

And there, standing back and watching with a broken heart of her own was Stephanie Campbell. Why she waited so long, I'll never know.

When I came home from New York City, I was tired, emotionally and spiritually spent and beaten, so when she came over, I was pretty much cold and uncaring to her... I didn't mean to be, but I just was. I even mentioned that I was praying over pursuing Melanie, which just crushed Steph.

Not only had my best friend Melanie simply told me that our friendship that probably meant more to me than it should was over, my real best friend Stephanie was gone... I knew the way she felt about me, we couldn't be friends, which crushed me again... but it would just be too hard for her. And as she left, she cried on her way home. And when she left, I cried in my room (don't think Steph ever knew that) because I was a wreck.

Contact was minimal for the next few weeks... and I missed her. And I began to realize why I missed her, and what Stephanie truly was to me... my best friend, true, but something more than that... God had a plan. Unbeknownst to all, but beknownst to God, the heartbreaking part was now over.

In the next few weeks, He began to stir in my heart. And one Tuesday night at our weekly Deuce Bible Study, I sat in front of Michael, Shawn, Tom, Ty, Tommy, Tom and Jason Demastus and, much to the smiles and joy of all of them, said the following words:

"Guys... I think that God is leading me to pursue Stephanie Campbell"

A Love Story in Three Acts, Act 3, Scene 3: "...That Led Me Straight To You"

A Love Story in Three Acts: Act 3, Scene 1

Exposition
Act 1: Cindy (1 scene)
Act 2: Amy (4 scenes)

The Campbell Connection
She walked into Life Connection at Valleydale Baptist Church, into the Common Ground House, a run down house that sat across the street from the church, used for sunday school classes. It was October 2000. I was still hanging out with Amy Wible, so my mere thought was "Wow, she's cute."

The next week, she didn't come back.

The months went by, Christmas came and went, and in January, I made the fateful phone call to Amy Wible to tell her how I felt. Just a few short weeks later, Stephanie Campbell came back. When she came in, I said "You're... Stephanie Campbell, right?", which was funny, because I knew exactly who she was. "Yes," she said... and then she thought hard, "David?" She thought hard to remember because she was actually trying to remember, unlike me, who creepily knew who she was to begin with.

She was the darn cutest thing I'd ever seen, and all throughout Life Connection, I tried not to stare at her. Couldn't help it. She was sitting with Jennifer Pritchett, so when class was over, I tried to get the lowdown from Jenn... who informed me "I don't know who she is, Dave".

So, I snuck her phone number from the class roll/sign up sheet and decided to call her a few days later. I used some lame excuse about inviting her to Bible Study at Sybil's, which I was actually going to be teaching that particular week (I remember teaching about David & the transfer of the Ark of the Covenant, and remember that Stephanie Nipp was taking notes--it made me feel really special that someone of Stephanie Nipp's godliness was actually taking notes on stuff I was writing).

So, there at Bible Study, I asked Stephanie out--Campbell, not Nipp. She said yes... however, she didn't know it was a date. She thought that, since via email and phone, I was telling her all this stuff about this place called The Deuce and how awesome it was, I was inviting her to a group gathering... when actually, I was asking her on a date.

Okay, so this part is fuzzy... Steph says our first date was she and I going to see Jodi Watson, Mamie Clark and Caroline Blackburn's talent show (these were girls on my WalkAbout team at the time) at Briarwood--it was rained out because of bad weather. So, we went back to The Deuce, where Michael cut cheese right in front of her...

...Sidebar: This wasn't the first time Mikey had been dumb during one of my dates. The first time, I was going out with this chick named Melissa Gilchrist, who was absolutely gorgeous. We had what I considered the "best first date that never turned into a second", and I partly blame that on Mikey... Melissa and I came back to The Apartment and found a slightly buzzed Mikey with a really buzzed Kelly Something under a blanket, giggling and being stupid. Perhaps I shouldn't want a girl like Melissa who would bristle at such things, but she did--and we never went out again.

Steph, incidentally, laughed at Michael, saying "Oh, I have a little brother who does that all the time" (this, of course, would be Tyler)

Anyway, the next few months were a blur... we went out, had a good time, enjoyed each others company. We double dated with Justin Glenn and Jennifer Pritchett a few times, once at a children's playground, another time the boys cooked dinner and we all watched The Parent Trap. All the while, I'm liking this girl. A whole lot. One date took us to another talent show for Oak Mtn Middle School to see Kourtney Kelley perform, among others, and then we eventually did get to see the re-scheduled Briarwood show. Another date had us watching Gone with the Wind, her favorite movie... this tells you how much I liked her, because I detest that movie. Funny how much we'll do for the people we like.

One weekend, she goes to Georgia with her cousin to see a friend (DeLisa, who just got married) then onto South Carolina to see another cousin, brother of the first said cousin. When she comes back, she tells me that somehow, she figured out what a great guy I was, and how much she kinda did like me, and she wanted to see what happened. Music to my ears. We sat on the couch and held hands and everything.

She, however, isn't liking me as much... I think I scared her. You gotta remember that I'm the first guy who has really been all about Stephanie since... well, ever. She dated a guy named Robert before, but it really didn't amount to much (I've seen his picture, I can guess why). So here comes this guy, me, being all about Stephanie Campbell, and it freaked her out.

Dinners at the Mellow Mushroom and Johnny Rockets were miserable, as both times, she re-iterated that we were just friends. Then, Common Ground's Beach Retreat had us driving down together, with Emily and this guy named Derek, where Stephanie flip flops again that she likes me/she doesn't. It's like I was dating Steph Kerry or something... "I liked you before I was against you"

I had just left Parisian, and had taken a job at Cox Radio working for the Oldies 106.9 (which soon became 106.9 The Point on 9/10, which then became 106.9 The Eagle last year). Parisian was interesting, because my bosses, Bart and Jamie, had been hearing about Stephanie since the first day I went out with her. We all shared an office, so they knew about her. And they heard that it might not happen.

Rabbit trail: Kinda funny, because my co-worker 'round the corner, Lisa, also heard about Stephanie (mostly because we emailed back and forth all day). Lisa and I reconnected earlier this year over lunch, and to her surprise, I had married that Stephanie girl that last she heard, wasn't working out too well. Funny how life works.

She has all of her new found friends over for Memorial Day at her apartment for Steph Campbell's Mmm Mmm Good Memorial Day meal, where she cooks all night, and I find out she has a crush on someone else... of course, it only last for a few days, but it still sucked. She even went out with Jason Quinn, though I knew that wouldn't go anywhere, but it still drove me nuts that after one date, he got to meet her family and sister, and after all this time, I hadn't done so yet. Darn it.

You'd think by now that I'd get the picture... but as Steph says, "You kept asking me out, I kept going." July 4th, 2001, 3am... I was hanging out at her apartment, her roommate Suzie gone for the night. We had been watching movies all night, goofing around... and wrestling. Now, every guy in the world knows what happens when you start wrestling with a girl you like--and it did. We had our first kiss. And it was awesome.

It didn't last, though. Myself, Stephanie and Jason Quinn, among others, went to Atlanta for my birthday weekend. We got to ride in a plane, which was fun, and we stayed with Emily Eldridge, but Stephanie was mean to be the whole weekend... that was the other thing--she was pretty cutting to me. She liked to poke fun at me in front of other people, and it really kinda hurt... that was her defense, really, because she didn't know how to treat me. On the way home, it was a rainy Sunday morning, and we barely spoke the entire way. She thought I was annoying, I was agitated at her, oh what fun it is to ride in a tension filled car, hey!

By this time, we had learned that Stephanie had taken a job with Georgia Power. I had been praying about Stephanie pretty much the whole summer, so this was my answer. She was moving away to Atlanta, so there, I was done with her. I could move on.

We had been emailing back and forth pretty much since we met, just talking during the day. I actually had about three or four people I talked to all during the day, including Michael Nipp and the aforementioned co-worker Lisa, so when Steph left, I slowly quit emailing. I mean, she'll find her niche over there, right?

For me, that was it. I was a little hurt that I had chased Stephanie, and had been shot down finally, but what's done is done. That was the fall of September 11th, among other things. On a much happier note, Deuce Semi-Formal also happened... I had asked Stephanie--Nipp that is, and she said yes. Steph Campbell went with Earl Salser, whom Ashley & Michael, now dating, tried to set her up with (thankfully, it didn't work).

Aound Christmas time, I met an adorable blonde named Lori. I actually saw her for the first time when I was at the front desk of Cox Radio, and she came to pick up concert tickets she had won. A few days later, she strode into Common Ground, and I said "Lori Smith?" It freaked her out. We became friends, and went out a few times. Stephanie came back to Birmingham pretty much every weekend, because she couldn't--or didn't--find a church in Atlanta. So, while going out with Lori, I would still run into Stephanie from time to time... well, alot. I had mixed feelings.

Common Ground took a trip to the Botannical Gardens in Georgia for Christmas, and even though I kinda hung out with Lori, after we got back, I ended up hanging out with Stephanie. For the record, Lori wasn't crushing on me (and I don't think she ever did) and I didn't know that Stephanie was.

Next: Act 3, Scene 2... "God Bless the Broken Road..."

A Love Story in Three Acts: Act 2, Scene 4

Exposition
Act 1: Cindy
Act 2, Scene 1: A Chance Meeting
Act 2, Scene 2: Summer of Love
Act 2, Scene 3: "Tuesday's" Night

"Reunion"
The last time I saw Amy, it was January of 2000, which was 17 months from the last time I had seen her, that being August of 1998. So, with that in mind, lets skip ahead another 7 months to August of 2000.

By this time, I was rooming with Michael, Shawn and Tom in The Deuce. I had already kinda sorta gone out with Leslie Cordell (which Leslie, nor even Stephanie, doesn't know how God worked in that situation)...) earlier that year, and hadn't really done much on the dating scene. I had also been sending out what I called Random Emails of Encouragement, a little God-inspired essay I would write from time to time. Amy was on my Encouragement email list, don't ask me how, and in one particular one, I had mentioned Sybil Johnson's Bible Study...

Let me 'splain. Sybil Johnson is a lady here in town that has a deep heart for high school and college kids, and opens her home up once per week for a Bible study. I had been going for a while--Michael took me--and its where I had met the likes of Tommy McLeod, Amy Vos, Jill Berthon and Shawn Sharp, who eventually became one of my Deucemates.

...and drew the writing from whatever had happened that night. I'm sitting in my room at The Deuce, and randomly, the phone rings. Its Amy. I sit up, and smile, "Well, hey, how are you?" and she says "Hey" back. We chat for a moment, all the while I'm puzzled as to why she's called me now. This is not someone I expected to hear from, like, ever again. Of course, I laughingly ask the question that I ask all girls who have been dating awhile... "You married yet?"

Silence.

Suddenly, there is uncontrollable sobbing and crying on the other end of the phone. "Hey hey... calm down," I say softly. "Amy, what's wrong?" She tells me that she and Craig have broken up. My first question should have been "Why are you calling me?", but I knew the answer to this question already. I simply say, "Calm down... talk to me. Tell me what's going on."

She starts telling me the story of how she and Craig had split, and it wasn't pretty at all. I do remember details, but honestly, its not important here... I ask her if she is in Tuscaloosa, and she says yes, and then I ask her if she wants me to come to her. Initially, she says yes, and I'm already putting socks on, but then she stops and says, "No... don't do that. Its too late tonight. I just wanted an ear to cry into." I ask her if she's sure, and she says yes... then she asks me about Sybil's Bible study, and if we can bring guests. I told her, "Of course. Would you like to come?" She says she would, and we set it up for her to come to Birmingham in a few days for Bible study.

I hung up the phone and collapsed into my pillow. You have to be freakin' kidding me, God. You have to be kiddin' me.

I have butterflies the size of Hyundais when she pulls up in The Deuce parking lot. I watch her walk down the sidewalk and disappear in the doorway to our building... I take a deep breath and open the door before she can even knock. My heart melts and flies at the same time as the only girl, at the time, I'd ever loved stood before me.
We go to Bible study, have a good time, I mention in prayer requests that "I have a friend who's really having a hard time with her life right now" (to which Amy smiles and squeezes my hand--she knew I was referring to her) and we come back to The Deuce.

As I walk her out, we stand in the parking lot and she begins to open up about Craig. Finally, we sit on the curb, as we talk for about three hours, 'til early in the morning. I finally ask her two questions... first, why call me? She answered like I thought she would... "Because I knew of all the people in the world, you'd be there for me, David. Somehow I knew you would."

Then I ask the killer question... "Why did you drop me? Why, after all we had that summer, did you just leave me in 1998? Amy, you broke my heart."

She had a sad look in her eye, and simply said, "I'm sorry. I'm sorry for all of it. You were perfect. You were everything I needed, everything I wanted, but I was just stupid, and I didn't know how to handle it. I figured the best thing to do was just not talk to you anymore, and it would all go away. I'm so sorry I hurt you... I'm so, so sorry."

I looked at her. "I want to be your friend, Amy. I want to be here for you." She smiled and said, "I really need that. I really need you to be there for me, more than anything right now." The smile left my face and I continued, "But if you leave again, if you drop me again, if you decide that you don't want me anymore, even as your friend, don't ever come back. Don't call me anymore. I don't know that I could take it." (truthbeknown, at the time she could have dropped me and returned a year later, then repeated this process five times over and I still would have been there for her... again, at the time)

Yes, yes, this sounds like a script from a movie. Or a cheesy romance novel. But this is what transpired in The Deuce parking lot in September of 2000, right around the time my future wife Stephanie was about to turn 23.

I had never been to a real college football game, or at least one that didn't happen in Troy, so Amy decided to fix that. She took me to the Alabama-Ole Miss game, and I got to sit in the student section--and it was awesome. I was rooting for Alabama because I picked them in this football game we started that same fall, The DFC, though I didn't let her know thats why I was cheering them on.

All through the fall, we hung out several times, had phone conversations that lasted until early morning time, and generally, it was a good fall. While I wasn't dating Amy--I didn't feel right about moving in so quickly after Craig left her, so I was being patient--I didn't go out with anyone else either. There was this cute girl named Stephanie Campbell that came to Sunday School one Sunday, but she never came back. Mostly, it was just hanging out with Amy.

The 2000 Election was that November, and Amy was there with myself, Shawn, Tom, Mikey, Drew, Ty and a few other people, and I was about to pass out. Shawn had started talking to Amy in his room, and it kind of agitated me--she was my guest, darn it--so I just went to bed. About 2am, she knocked on my door and came in. "Sorry about that... Shawn was just talking away..." she smiled. I let my frustrations be known, how I understood that all the guys liked her here, and she liked all the guys... but I really wanted her time. She smiled and said, "Don't worry... you and I have a history. Nothing's going to come between that."

She also got us tickets to the Iron Bowl, my first one. Michael, Wookiee, Tom and Shawn all came for $50 per ticket, but Amy covered mine... hey, we had history. Auburn won a cold, miserable 9-0 game, and we cheered, even in the midst of the Bama student section. Looking back, its a wonder we didn't get shot. Amy was quite frustrated with all of us, especially me, for doing this... I couldn't help it.

Finally, in January, I was watching television. We were still recovering from the 50+ people we had in our apartment for the first Deuce Christmas Party, one which Amy couldn't make, so the place was still a mess. Amy had emailed me something, I don't remember what, but something snapped in me. This was it. I was tired of dealing with it, I was tired of thinking about it, so I just picked up the phone.

"Hello?"
"Hey Amy"
"Oh, hey Dave, whats up?"
"I gotta talk to you for a second"
"Is everything okay?"
"Yes, just listen."
And with that, with Shawn thumping the bass two rooms over and Mikey and Tommy watching tv in the next room, I said the following:
"Amy, I love you. I've been in love with you since that night we had dinner at Ruby Tuesday's. Maybe even before that, I dunno. I just know it broke my heart into a thousand pieces when you suddenly quit talking to me in Summer 98... (she started to say something, but I cut her off)... no, let me say this. It broke my heart, and I thought I was done with you, but when I saw you that night, I knew how I felt. And when you called me last September, it all came back. I almost don't care what you'll say to this... I actually want you to tell me its never going to happen, just so I can stop hoping and move on with my life, but there. I'm in love with you. I said it."

Silence.

"Wow... I don't know what to say...I..."
"Well, you can say that its never going to happen between us, for starters. Then, I can move on. Anything else, though perhaps welcome, would be really complicated."
"I... I, uh... you caught me off guard, David...."

Now, with that, the conversation ended pretty quickly. She was stunned. I was stunned that she didn't know any of this. Was she that blind?

I hung up the phone and smiled. I had said it. To me, it was over. If she loved me, she would have said so, right? I could move on, marry, make kids and live a happy life. She called me back a few days later.

And she said the following:
"David, I've been thinking about what you said, and I wanted to talk to you for a minute. (I started to say something, but she cut me off)... No, you said your piece, let me say mine. It makes me smile that you love me. You have been so amazing. You have loved me more unselfishly than anyone I've ever met. Not my friends, not my parents, certainly not Joel or Craig or any other guy. Even when I treated you like crap, you were there for me... that's true love, and I thank you for it... even love you for it... But... its not there. And its so hard to say that its not there, because I want it to be so badly... I've prayed to God that He would help me feel that way about you... I want to. I know you would treat me like a Godly husband should and be everything I could ever want or need... but its not there. I've thought about this, I've prayed about this, I've... I don't know. I don't think its going to happen, but not because I don't want it too... but because God doesn't want it too."

You would think that that statement would be a daggar into my heart, much like the one I had experienced years before... but it wasn't. It was a weight that sudenly fell off of my shoulders.

With that statement, I knew two things... yes, I loved Amy Wible, but I knew that I finally had total peace over the fact that it was not meant to be. And secondly, I knew that our friendship was close to running its course. After almost five years, the Season of David and Amy was over.

Though we spoke again on the phone, the calls became less frequent, until finally, they just went away. That February, she was my date to the first Deuce Date Party, and later on in summer, she did come to the WalkAbout Dinner Theater (middle school drama team) that I had directed... what was funny was that she and Stephanie Campbell sat at the same table, and later, with some other people, came to the Deuce. I had Amy and Stephanie in the same room for about half an hour... looking back, it was almost like Amy could have said "Hey, I've had him for five years... now its your time, Stephanie"

Amy did invite me to her going away party--she was headed to Texas to seminary, now that she had graduated Alabama. Both Shawn and I went. As the party wound down, I gave her a hug and a kiss on the cheek--the first time I'd ever kissed her--and said goodbye. And that "goodbye" was not for the night... but for all.

And though I spoke to her a few times after that, that night was the last time I ever saw Amy Wible.

Next: Act 3, Scene 1... "The Campbell Connection"

A Love Story in Three Acts: Act 2, Scene 3

Exposition
Act 1: Cindy
Act 2, Scene 1: A Chance Meeting
Act 2, Scene 2: Summer of Love

"Tuesday's" Night
It's January of 1999. I've met some people at this new church I'm going to, Valleydale Baptist. Notably, I've been introduced to this guy, Michael, who lives in Huntsville, but is moving back to Birmingham. He was going to UNA, and was a manager of Soul Pilot, a Christian band, but apparently is leaving that gig.

I've also met Tom Johnson, who is interning at Valleydale, and Michael's sister, Stephanie. While I've now met some of the key players who would go on and form The Apartment, and then finally, The Deuce, at this point I'm still living in my townhome at 3079 Carousel Court by myself.

Don't ask me how it happened, don't ask me how we started talking (it wasn't over computer, because I didn't have one--my guess was, one of us had called the other for some reason) but somehow, Amy Wible and I had a conversation.

And that conversation led to a dinner invitation. She was dating Craig, I was single, but she said it would be fun to catch up and chat over dinner. So one evening I drove to Tuscaloosa, took the elevator up to whatever floor in Rose Towers and then stood at the end of her hallway. I hadn't seen this girl since August of 1998, nor had I spoken to her, save for the conversation recently that led me here.

I took a deep breath and started slowly walking to the door. What was I thinking? What would I say? What would happen? I was about to find out. I knocked. She answered. And my eyes widened and my jaw dropped a little. She was beautiful. Her hair was shorter, she lost a little weight, her smile was bright as ever and I knew this was bad.

Driving seperately, we met up at Ruby Tuesday's for dinner. We chatted about things, she told me of Craig, whom she loved deeply. He was a youth minister locally, and he was perfect for her. I smiled and nodded, all the while begging to ask the question "Why did you leave me last summer? Why did you just drop me? Why? Why?" but it never came out. It wasn't right. Here I was, having dinner with an old friend, a friend I probably would never see again because, heck, she's getting married soon enough, I'm sure. Why spoil it with questions that she doesn't want to answer, and that I probably don't want the answers to?

She saw a few of her friends nearby, so after dinner, we both went to sit with them. She introduced me, I shook hands, nibbled on a few appitizers that were offered, and finally, told Amy it was time for me to go. With a quick hug and a "drive safe", that was it. But it wasn't it. Not by a long shot.

Because I got back in the car and knew something had just happened. After going 18 months with neither seeing nor speaking to Amy, then suddenly feeling like I felt that one night, I knew one thing was certain. I didn't know what I was going to do about it, I didn't how God was going to deal with this.

I was discussing the word love once with a friend, and the concept of "being in love". I always thought you couldn't explain it with words, but when you were there, you just knew it. Somehow, someway, you just knew it.

I was in love with Amy.

Next: The Finale to Act 2... Scene 4 "Reunion"

A Love Story in Three Acts: Act 2, Scene 2

Exposition
Act 1: Cindy
Act 2, Scene 1: A Chance Meeting

"Summer of Love"
My senior year in college came along in the fall of 1997... actually, I was due to graduate at the end of fall quarter, but since they didn't have fall commencement at that time (they started that the following year, when they went to semesters in the fall of 1998), I couldn't officially graduate. So, I was simply a lame-duck student, done with school, but not able to graduate college until March. Many students moved away, and would come back for the ceremony, but I was in a lease at Willow Terrace, still living with Wookiee & and now Mike Brunson, until the summer of 98.

Instead of graduating, actually, I went on a mission trip to New York City in March of 1998, my first NYC trip. Somewhere on that Thursday, I was walking down 5th Avenue and I remember looking at my watch and seeing it was 3pm. I shouted "I'm a college graduate now!" really loudly. Incidentally, this is also the same trip where Chrissy Roe, the Spanish teacher from Spain Park, met her husband. More proof that God's plan revolves around me. That was a joke.

And in May of 1998, I heard from Amy Wible.

I was online again, this time, I think it was on AOL 3.0... she IM'ed me with a "Hi" and I just gave her a "hello". We talked for a long, long time. Understand that I was over her (after only one summer and a handful of afternoons spent together, I was never "under" her, to paraphrase Ross Geller) so talking to her wasn't that big of a deal. Through the course of the conversation, I found out she'd broken up with her boyfriend Joel and wanted to know how I was doing. I was fine, at that point. Graduated, summer missions, NYC, still praying about where I was going in the fall (Though Montgomery, Atlanta and Nashville were not out of the question, I had truly narrowed it down to Mobile and... ugh, Birmingham. Hated Birmingham. I was hoping the upcoming internship interviews in Mobile would work out)

I don't know how it happened again, but we agreed to go out again. Careful I was not falling into another Cindy Howell type trap, I prepared myself to pray about a guarded heart, and kept asking God to guide me in this rekindled friendship. So, we met again. And again. And again. And somehow, we started dating again within a few weeks.

One night, we had dinner and then went to the Shakespeare Festival grounds--for those of you who don't know what that is, its the area called The Alabama Shakespeare Festival. Its a huge park, with several small theaters and museums on the grounds, and a huge (man made) lake in the middle. Lots of picnic areas, plus a place where you can walk right up to the water and feed geese, which is what we did. That night, we sat together for about four hours, and Amy began to open up to me, to the point of tears. She told me of what her year had been like, her relationship and break up with Joel, what her fears were, what her hope for the future was and everything else. And I sat and listened... and my heart was melting. I opened up to her about my life, about things that I was dealing with, and there at close to midnight, we sat and prayed together for what seemed like forever. It was awesome.

June passes and July is almost over. Though I really, really want to go to Mobile, I feel God is calling me to Birmingham. I'm fighting it in my prayerlife, not wanting to admit this is what God wants for me, even though it was pretty evident, since none of my interviews in Mobile was going to lead to anything. Through some random conversation with Amy, I mention a possible move to Birmingham, possibly working for this new Christian station starting up called Reality Radio 101.1. She tells me how great that would be, because with her in Tuscaloosa, I'd only be 45 minutes away, not two hours, and how great it would be dating the DJ for a Christian radio station. Much like God led me to Christian drama through Chrissy, God finally sealed the deal with me for Birmingham through Amy.

My final time with Amy was unexpected. I was taking her to the beach for the day (Troy was only about 100 miles away from PCB) and that night, we were going to a party at Farmhouse, my fraternity. And we had agreed that we would slow dance for the first time during the band party. So we get to the beach, we have a great time, have lunch, walk, hang out and so forth. Make our way back that evening, get ready, go the party, but alas, the only slow song they played was "Sexual Healing", which I told Amy was not acceptable for two good people like us to dance to.

We left the party late, and I had made arrangements for her to stay at my apartment. Wookiee was already moved out (gone to Hazelhearst, GA), Mikey Brunson was gone (that's another story) and I was actually due to move out the next week. She was going to sleep in my room, I was going to sleep on the couch... perhaps not a perfect Christian arrangement, but we both agreed nothing below reproach was going to happen. We watched a movie, she passed out, she went to bed, I slept on the couch. The next morning, I made pancakes. I walked her out, she left. But something... something was different this morning. Something. I don't know what, but... something.

Whatever that something was, it was really something. I moved to Birmingham two weeks later. I didn't know a soul. I had hoped that Amy would come see me, if not as the girl I was dating, then just to give me some company... but she didn't return my calls. I guess we broke up by virtue of not talking anymore.I mean, I didn't understand it. After all we shared this summer, all the time we spent together, we were truly walking with God in our relationship--other than hand holding, that sleeping in separate rooms in the same apartment was the only thing that had even transpired between us.

And suddenly, here I was in Birmingham, a city I hated. Alone. No friends. Very little money. No church. No support. No Amy.

And in August 1998, for the first time in my life, I knew the feeling of having a heart that was broken into a million pieces.

Next: Act 2, Scene 3... "Tuesday's" Night

A Love Story in Three Acts: Act 2, Scene 1

Read:
Exposition
Act One

"A Chance Meeting"
By 1997, I'd been out with the girl who is now the current Huntsville ABC station executive producer, the chick who is cousin to former Miss America Heather Whitestone, and even more. I dated alot. Not bragging... like I said, some of it, I wish I could take back.

I did go out with a girl named Chrissy... I just went to her webpage... its sublime. I remember when she was learning Spanish. I was actually on the NYC mission trip--my first of three to come--where Chrissy & her husband met, so hey, I was there from the beginning. I heard they recently became parents--good for them!

Incidentally, Chrissy was also part of the streak I had going where when the relationship ended, the girl married the next guy she dated after me. Chrissy (married Drew, a fraternity brother) Heather Howell (married Nathan Carroll, another fraternity brother), Melanie Jackson (married Tim Spooner a year or two later) and so on. The common joke around my female friends was "Hey Dave, date me. I want to get married later." Yeah, thanks.

Sidebar: It was God working through Chrissy that not only taught me about the Christian Walk, but it was God working through Chrissy that taught me a love of Christian drama. It was that love that God used to lead me to Valleydale Church (an sbc fellowship) and God used to help encourage the drama talents of Andrea Brobst, Scott Latta, Jaci Gresham, The Fine Girls, The Kelley Girls, Garrett & Paige Cheney, The Long Twins, The Noland Sisters and even more. So in short, I throw it all back to Chrissy. You'll never know the impact you had.

1997 was a good spring. I had been selected to go onto the mission field in Montgomery, and work with the Montgomery Baptist Association--and get this... it was PAID mission work. My supervisor, Debbie, was even nice enough to let me have an evening off, because I had tickets to see "Les Miserables" in Atlanta (I took Chrissy...). It was fun work, playing with kids, helping a youth group in Millbrook and so on...

Well, one day in July of 1997, I'm sitting in my Wookiee's room, because he owned the only computer in the cramped place at Thomas Circle Apartments. I'm on AOL 2.0, using my screen name The Tan Guy, and basically goofing off, looking for conversation online. It's late in the evening, I'm not even sure where Chris is, but I find this chick online named Amy. Find out she's from Montgomery. We talked online for about five hours, into the early, early hours of the morning. I think Chris actually came home, and when I asked him if I should get off the computer, he just grunted, which is Wookeese for "I don't care what you do, but if you wake me after I pass out, I'll eat you". For whatever reason, Amy and I agreed to meet the next day at the Eastdale Mall for a movie.

Remember, this is 1997... AOL is very young, I'm in Troy, Montgomery is 40 miles away, and meeting someone from the internet is still a very, very geeky thing to do. But hey, I'm single, so why not? The next morning, I wake up with a headache--I get that when I am awake too late, then don't get up early enough. I have Amy's phone number, and am supposed to call her and confirm the time we're meeting. Part of me is holding my head, thinking "I'm calling and canceling... what am I doing? What if she's a schnauzer?" But, I call her, set a time and we agree to go see "George of the Jungle". I tell her what I'm wearing, she shares the same so we can spot each other. On the way to Monkeytown, I make my shallow plan to sit and wait for her at the mall, and if she walks in and I don't like what I see, I walk. No muss, no fuss. Better to stand up this chick I barely know then to have to fake nice.

I sit on a bench near the Eastdale Mall theater and wait for her to come. I see a few people that I'm glad I'm not meeting, I imagine I'd seen one or two that made me think "Oh, if this is her, my life rocks!!!" Finally, she came in. About 5'5, probably tipping the scales at 120, brown hair and a big smile. It was Amy Wible. And I liked her from the first moment I saw her. We shook hands, talked for a minute, then went into the theater. Movies are always risky first dates, because it forces silence. This can be a good thing, if the date is awkward, but it can be a bad thing if the conversation is going well.

The conversation went well, the movie went well and we walked out together, still sizing each other up. She had just graduated from high school, I was two months away from 22. She was headed to the U of Alabama in the fall, was playing flute in the Million Dollar Band, and was a Christian. After the movie, we hopped in her truck (!) and she took me over to a friend of her's to hang out a little while... and we did. We talked, laughed and had fun, and at the end of the evening, she brought me back. She asked me to call her again, I told her I would.

Turns out, Debbie (the supervisor) and Amy went to the same church... when she heard that I was going out with Amy, Debbie approved. She even said once "Oh, yes, you're the one Amy's been talking about. She really likes you." I got to go to church with Amy once, to hear her sing Nicole C. Mullen's "Redeemer", of which she did just a slam bang job.

The next month or so is a blur. We went out a couple of times, though it was hard to get to Montgomery to see her...by late July, she was up in Tuscaloosa. Once, I went to my friend Allyson's house, living in Alabaster, and cooked dinner. I took it to Tuscaloosa, and Amy and I had a picnic at a park, which was great. Another time, myself, Wookiee & Allyson went up to T'town to visit Amy and her roommate Kristi (who, if I remember correctly, had a crush on me...). I would send Amy little verses and cards for encouragement and such, just for fun.

She told me in a phone call that her new Blessid Union of Souls cd had broken, so the next time (which turned out to be the last time) I went to see her that summer, I came to save the day. Here I was with a new copy of the newest Blessid Union of Souls cd (remember that song about racism, "I Believe", or that goofy song "She likes me for me!" that namedrops Leonardo deCaprio? Yeah, thats them.)

But somewhere in the middle of August, when school started, Amy stopped returning my calls. Kristi didn't tell me much when I talked to her on the phone, other than "I'm sorry... I wish she'd get her head together..." kind of stuff. Found out Amy had a boyfriend, or so I heard. I shrugged it off, picked up my hurt feelings and moved on. I mean, it happens, right? You like someone, they sort of like you, then you find out they don't, it stings for a day, or maybe a week, but life goes on. And for me, it did.

Until May of 1998.

Next: A Love Story in Three Acts, Act 2, Scene 2

A Love Story in Three Acts: Act 1

Exposition

"Cindy"
Cindy was my high school girlfriend... I lived in Samson (pop. 2071), she lived in the nearby town of Coffee Springs (pop. 251--no, I'm not kidding), and is a year older than I. Most people think my graduating class of 45 was tiny--see the recent "We Want the Funk(hauser)" column--but her graduating class was 17. We both worked together at The Wright Place restaurant, a family owned establishment that I started at when I was 15. Flash forward a year & a half later, I'm 17, I meet this girl named Cindy over Christmas and my crush is on.

Now, I'd had crushes before on Stephanie Phillips (at who's wedding I actually saw Leann Corby, my first date from Troy State in some weird twist of... fate... am I actually rhyming?), Leslie Whigham (who I see weekly now at Starbucks... who knew?), a crazy crush on Julie Wise (the infamous Samson High School "Dave/Rona/Ryan/Julie/Jody/Leigh love triangle-angle-angle of 1992"... ask me, and I'll explain it...) but my crush on Cindy was different? Why? Well, sadly enough, she actually said yes when I asked her out.

So we went to see Wayne's World--yes, the first one--on February 15th, 1992. I wore jeans and a green turtleneck that looking back on, I would smack myself for doing. I remember it. Turns out, she had a boyfriend named Todd Wheeler. Cindy and I went out again later, several more times, all the while she seemed to still be hanging out with big, ugly Todd. Let me just tell you--this guy was a total loser. Seriously... he was hairy, he looked like a monkey, his truck was High Tech Redneck all the way. So, she chose him in the long (short?) run, even after I took her to my junior prom, she took Todd to hers, and so on.

Then we got back together. Then we broke up. Then she went to college, and we still we still dated. Then we broke up. She went on to Troy State in the fall, and I went to see her on a rainy Saturday. She was too busy to come down and see me, so I decided to tour the campus myself. I loved it. Loved the grounds, loved the area, loved the stadium, loved the journalism school, loved it all... so I applied, and got in. (Of course, being God, who's to say that God didn't use my relationship with Cindy to bring me to Troy, where I would be led to Jesus in 1995, much like He worked through another girl to lead me to Birmingham)...

Anyway, I thought we were done. Christmas Day, 1992, we went out again, this time to go bowling. And this time, there was no Todd Wheeler... she liked me. I got my first kiss and we were dating for real. Things were going alright for a while, then one day she came through Samson on a Saturday morning with some of her college friends, including this really tall, hairy guy who also looked like a monkey. She apologized later for that, so we went out again. Then we didn't. Then we did. I invited her to my senior prom, she said yes.

During my off again periods with Cindy, I ended up going out with a few other girls here and there (some of which are dates I would love to have back), and had asked out Angie Jay (who said yes initially, until Bradley Miller spread it all over school that we were dating, so she retracted--there were about 300 from 6th grade to 12th grade, so when I say "all over school", I literally mean "all over school"), and heck, even got up the nerve to ask out Julie Wise (who said no) but I always kept going back to Cindy. I even took back my prom invite, asking Amy Farris instead.

Amy said yes at first, then a day later, she said "I know you really want to take that Cindy girl, so go with her". So I took Cindy to prom... I had a blast. She was a stick in the mud, so I left her at the table and had a good time on my own. Then, a few days after that, I found out the previous January, a week or so after we had our first kiss, she had gone out with some other guy--the same tall, hairy guy that was with her in the group going to the beach... she even kissed him. So, as far as I was concerned, we were done.

At least, until I got to Troy State the following September, and we went out again, though this time I almost didn't care. Not knowing anyone, I became friends with Cindy's friends, and she took offense to this--she treated me like crap, really. So, we're done now. I'm over it, if only because Troy is a brand new world and there are tons of fish in the sea--heck, this is the freakin' Pacific.

I had dinner with Ginny Kochan from Wisconsin, which was awesome... well, it ended up later as a disaster, (begatting The Ginny Kochan First Law of Dating), but at first, I was excited. I went that weekend to work at the restaurant, and mentioned to someone "Hey, I had dinner with this awesome chick named Ginny..." Well, upon hearing it, Cindy got mad. She felt as if I was going out with other people to get even with her, which didn't help her anger when I actually laughed at her for saying it. "You're kidding me, right?" I laughed. "You actually think I care enough about you at this point to date someone to just get even with you?" Yeah, that didn't help either.

Moved on from Ginny to go out with Labett White (her name was Mary Beth, but her little brother could only spit out "Labett") that winter, something that lasted all of two weeks. I actually had a crush on Adrienne Benton, who was a close friend to both me and Labett, but that wasn't going to happen... anyway, in the spring of 1994, I met Chris Fulaytar (you may know him as Wookiee, but that nickname came after)... and though I didn't date him, nor did I have a crush on him, this was a key point.

He was dating Anna Ayers, commonly known now as "The Wench", while I was dating Katherine Gates, commonly known now as "The Absolutely Freakin' Psycho Katherine Gates" (those are two stories that are for another day), and both The Wench and Katherine lived in Hamil Hall with a party-going Mormon named Erin and a country bumpkin named Alyson.

Up in Hamil Hall one day, with both of us visiting our chicks-at-the-time, Chris and I were sharing dating stories one day, and I found out he knew Cindy Howell, as they were both involved in ROTC on campus. Heck, he even dated her. Then I found out he dated her in January of 1992. Then I found out he had come with Cindy and friends to the beach, and had stopped in at The Wright Place for breakfast. So yes, he was the guy who Cindy had made out with, in the midst of going out with me... and Chris and I both laughed heartily about it. We even became roommates the next year... and for three years after that. And a decade later, he served as the best man in my wedding, and I in his.

Cindy and I didn't speak for 18 months. Know that Troy's campus was not all that big, so we saw each other quite frrequently... we would pass by in the halls of McCalla or Wallace, look at each other and just keep going. Until one day... I finally called her. When I mentioned I was roommates and best friends with Chris Fulaytar, she got really quiet, which I enjoyed thoroughly... but anyway, we made up. (No, not like that). I was a sophomore, she was a junior, we both had grown up a little bit, so we didn't go out again.

I gotta say, though, we were high schoolers, and young college kids... its like a world away at this point. I say that because to her credit, when we finally reconnected, she was a different person. She apologized profusely for everything over and over, I apologized for everything, and we became really good friends. The next year, I went to see her in Biloxi, Mississippi where she was stationed (she was in the Air Force for a few years) and visited my first casino (won $15 on the nickel machines... and honestly, the last time I ever gambled, aside from a lottery ticket every now and again).

At this point, Cindy was just fantastic to be around. And still is. Did I love her? I told her I did. However, I don't know if I can count that, because I was 17 at the time. Did I know what love was? I don't think so. That's not saying that people who are 17 or 18 can't know what love is all about... I just know I didn't.

Throughout the next few years in college, I went through a series of relationships, dating a few Julies, a Melanie, a Heather, a couple of Jennifers, having a big crush on a Kathy (who liked Jarred, for some reason... what is it with girls who like guys who are jerks? Is this a national thing, or just southern? Do nice guys do something to turn girls this way? We should do a study.) which turned into a "Some Kind of Wonderful" story when I ended up liking Lisa Murphy instead and, oh yes, this chick named Chrissy--which is important because those of you who are spent time on WalkAbout should thank God this girl existed.

And all of this leads up to Amy.

Act 2, Scene 1: A Chance Meeting