Carrots for Michaelmas

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Our Love Story: Part I

May 25, 2011 By carrotsformichaelmas 22 Comments

Welcome to Carrots! I'm so glad you're here. This is where I share thoughts on liturgical living, faith, parenting, culture, and an extra dose of Jane Austen. You can sign up for my email newsletter here to stay in touch, or look me up on Instagram!

Welcome to Carrots! I'm so glad you're back. You can sign up for my email newsletter here to stay in touch, or look me up on Instagram!

Last week: “I can’t imagine you being married to anyone other than Daniel. It is such a joy to know you are with such a good and wonderful man.” –My Dad

9 Years Ago: “I don’t want you to ever see that boy again. He is a freak.” – My Dad

As we are celebrating our FIFTH(!) anniversary this Saturday, I thought a few posts about our love story might be fun this week…

I was 15. I knew I liked Daniel immediately after meeting him. We had a mutual friend, Elizabeth, who introduced us and I was instantly smitten. We saw each other at various functions and occasionally talked over instant messenger (how 2002 of us!). I was quite fascinated by him. He could discuss books and ideas. He actually had opinions, some of which were very different from my own, and he could talk about them intelligently and confidently. He wasn’t like anyone I had ever met. And he was so adorably handsome. At the end of my sophomore year Daniel called my house phone (an unprecendented occurrence) to ask me to go see a musical at his high school with him. He arrived at my parent’s door with cut-offs, a Goodwill shirt, shaggy hair, and trucker hat, and no shoes. I thought he looked impossibly cool. My father did not (hence the above quote).

My dad and I have had only a handful of big arguments in my quarter of a century of existence. Whether or not I could date Daniel Stewart was one of them. In my dad’s defense, Daniel did not exactly arrive on the scene in respectable first date theatre attire.

Dad: He is WEIRD.

Haley: *SOB*

Daniel’s plan of attack was to win over my mom first. He would occasionally drop by the house to bring me a Jones Soda or a mix cd and always made a point of chatting with her. She developed the opinion that under his rather homeless-looking garb was an intelligent, thoughtful, kind, and interesting young man. My dad eventually was won over, too, and a few months later when we broke up (oops! Spoiler!) they were both irritatingly on his side.

Broke up, you say? Indeed. After a few months of adorable dateyness, Daniel broke my little 17-year-old heart. Whenever I would upbraid his good name due to my bitter angst over no longer being his high school sweetheart, my parents would retort, “Daniel is just a wonderful young man! Don’t say that about him!” When I told my mom that we had broken up she helpfully replied, “but I like him so much! And he has the handsomest sparkly brown eyes!”

Haley: *SOB*

Luckily, I had somebody on my side—Daniel’s parents. Rumor has it that his mother broke down in tears when he nonchalantly tried to tell his folks over dinner that we’d broken up.

Thankfully, he came to his senses a couple months later. I, however, (the woman scorned) was not exactly….shall we say…gracious. But after several weeks of giving him very icy treatment, I was won over by his charming ways yet again when he switched name plates to sit next to me at a friend’s wedding. When I had to drive home before the festivities were over, Daniel showed up at my house with a slice of wedding cake. He looked very handsome and it was really good cake. I was no match for such chivalry and confections!

For almost a year we spent all our free time together. He would write me notes saying wonderful adorable things. We would stroll through Oven Park, Jones Sodas in hand, and kiss. I was head over heels and Daniel had become my best friend. I knew that I wanted to marry him. I admired his sense of humor, adventurous spirit, genuine kindness, and above all, Christian devotion. And I had completely fallen in love with his family. But things were about to fall apart again…I was about to move halfway across the country for college…

Will our young love survive?! Find out in Part II, dear reader.

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Filed Under: Husband

Comments

  1. Holly @ Times Two says

    May 25, 2011 at 2:39 am

    Adorable!

    Reply
  2. Holly @ Times Two says

    May 25, 2011 at 2:39 am

    Adorable!

    Reply
  3. katryna says

    May 25, 2011 at 2:50 am

    I love you. and your story.

    Reply
  4. katryna says

    May 25, 2011 at 2:50 am

    I love you. and your story.

    Reply
  5. monike says

    May 25, 2011 at 3:23 am

    pretty much love this. how very gil and anne of you two. can’t wait to read more!

    Reply
  6. monike says

    May 25, 2011 at 3:23 am

    pretty much love this. how very gil and anne of you two. can’t wait to read more!

    Reply
  7. Margot Payne says

    May 25, 2011 at 3:30 am

    Great photo & story! I’m eagerly anticipating the next installment! Please make it snappy; I’m in a state of suspence! Your children will love reading this story!

    Reply
  8. Margot Payne says

    May 25, 2011 at 3:30 am

    Great photo & story! I’m eagerly anticipating the next installment! Please make it snappy; I’m in a state of suspence! Your children will love reading this story!

    Reply
  9. Elizabeth says

    May 25, 2011 at 3:49 am

    I love you both and your love story.

    I have to admit that my favorite part of the story is your dad’s initial reaction to Daniel.

    I still brag that I was the one who introduced you two love birds..

    Cannot wait to find out the sex of baby Stewart number 2! My money is on a girl!

    Reply
  10. Elizabeth says

    May 25, 2011 at 3:49 am

    I love you both and your love story.

    I have to admit that my favorite part of the story is your dad’s initial reaction to Daniel.

    I still brag that I was the one who introduced you two love birds..

    Cannot wait to find out the sex of baby Stewart number 2! My money is on a girl!

    Reply
  11. carrotsformichaelmas says

    May 25, 2011 at 9:32 pm

    Thanks, you guys!

    Reply
  12. carrotsformichaelmas says

    May 25, 2011 at 9:32 pm

    Thanks, you guys!

    Reply
  13. carrotsformichaelmas says

    February 14, 2012 at 2:54 pm

    Reblogged this on Carrots for Michaelmas: Musings of a Catholic Wife, Mother, and Occasional Redhead and commented:

    We’re not very good at Valentine’s Day (especially not when 3/4 of our household is sick) but we do love each other an awful lot. Here’s a repost of Our Love Story. Here’s the first part and you can read parts two and three from the link at the bottom of the post.

    Reply
  14. carrotsformichaelmas says

    February 14, 2012 at 2:54 pm

    Reblogged this on Carrots for Michaelmas: Musings of a Catholic Wife, Mother, and Occasional Redhead and commented:

    We’re not very good at Valentine’s Day (especially not when 3/4 of our household is sick) but we do love each other an awful lot. Here’s a repost of Our Love Story. Here’s the first part and you can read parts two and three from the link at the bottom of the post.

    Reply
  15. LPatter says

    February 4, 2013 at 11:46 pm

    This sounds like my mom’s first intro of my dad to her parents in 1969! He was a brown-haired cool-shaggy hippy with a great smile & charm – Papa (my grandfather) did NOT approve and when she asked her usually-more-indulgent mother “mom, isn’t he handsome?!” her (wry Italian-mother) reply was “who could tell under all that HAIR?!” 🙂

    (My mom could, that’s who!)

    Reply

Trackbacks

  1. Our Love Story: Part II « Carrots for Michaelmas: An Attempt to Celebrate the Christian Year with Feasting, Farming, Fasting, and Friendship says:
    May 26, 2011 at 1:05 am

    […] This is Part II, you can catch up on Part I here. […]

    Reply
  2. Our Love Story: Part II « Carrots for Michaelmas: An Attempt to Celebrate the Christian Year with Feasting, Farming, Fasting, and Friendship says:
    May 26, 2011 at 1:05 am

    […] This is Part II, you can catch up on Part I here. […]

    Reply
  3. Our Love Story: Part III « Carrots for Michaelmas: An Attempt to Celebrate the Christian Year with Feasting, Farming, Fasting, and Friendship says:
    May 28, 2011 at 11:19 am

    […] is Part III. You can read Part I and Part II to catch […]

    Reply
  4. Our Year in Pictures: 2011! « Carrots for Michaelmas: An Attempt to Celebrate the Christian Year with Feasting, Farming, Fasting, and Friendship says:
    December 30, 2011 at 5:28 pm

    […] Our Love Story […]

    Reply
  5. Our Year in Pictures: 2011! « Carrots for Michaelmas: An Attempt to Celebrate the Christian Year with Feasting, Farming, Fasting, and Friendship says:
    December 30, 2011 at 5:28 pm

    […] Our Love Story […]

    Reply
  6. Hi, New Folks! « Carrots for Michaelmas: Musings of a Catholic Wife, Mother, and Occasional Redhead says:
    January 30, 2012 at 7:41 pm

    […] Our Love Story […]

    Reply
  7. Hi, New Folks! « Carrots for Michaelmas: Musings of a Catholic Wife, Mother, and Occasional Redhead says:
    January 30, 2012 at 7:41 pm

    […] Our Love Story […]

    Reply

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Welcome! I’m Haley Stewart, a bookish mama of four and wife to a beekeeper. Writer, speaker, podcaster, and Catholic convert. Homeschooling, bacon-eating, and bright red lipstick-wearing Jane Austen aficionado. My first book, The Grace of Enough: Pursuing Less and Living More in a Throwaway Culture is available now!

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