Have you voted yet? "My Dad's Eyes" @ the Hoopes Vision Video Contest - Humorous category. Do so right now by clicking right here:
http://www.hoopesvision.com/contest/finalists.html
Or are you waiting for this?
So I don't think I have enough information to do the whole how Rachel met Ryan recounting. From my understanding it played out kind of like Seven Brides for Seven Brothers* sans the avalanche and most of the dancing. A group of friends from Richfield UT comes down to Cedar City to go to school and snatches up a group of girls from about a one mile radius in town and the rest is history. [*Can I admit online that SBFSB was actually a cinematic pillar of my childhood that oddly enough resurfaced at the Incredible pizza company just a few weeks ago? I guess I just did].
But you probably want more details than that right? I'll tell what I do know and that is when I first met Ryan. So I wasn't party to the first or second encounters in fact I'm not sure what stage their relationship was at when Rachel first brought Ryan around the house. [I'm fairly confident that it was after our Mom in her night gown/housecoat (does anyone elses mom have a housecoat?) had gone to the his house looking for Rachel at about 11:00 pm or so but that's a different story or maybe its the same story because if you still come around the house after that you must be interested or crazy:]
So I'd heard rumblings of Rachel hanging out with this group of guys--one of which was 'special'. I don't want this to make her sound like she was on the brink of Old Maiddom as she was only 20, but this was kind of big news. So I come home one evening and by the noise level there was obviously a group of guys around back. I think they were fixing something*.
*Most parents aspire to marry their girls to a doctor/banker/lawyer type. Pretty sure that our parents were hoping their girls would marry a mechanic and a carpenter respectively. I mean you probably don't want your son-in-law to be performing your colonoscopy but if he can change your break pads that's awesome. These Richfield boys, well you've seen the movie, are pretty handy not formally but incidentally schooled in a lot of the tasks most people have to pay for. [*Editing note: the other sister married a doctor well a guy who is now a doctor and we think he's just as awesome nothing against bankers or lawyers either]
Back to the story so they're out back and I go around to do some reconnaissance probably under the guise that I was just headed back to 'shoot some hoops' which you should know is a terrible cover. I would never shoot a basketball infront of people I had never met. Ever. And rarely would meeting someone change that.
The group was pretty casual. I'm not sure what I was expecting like I said it was new for our family but we did do the whole meet and greet that you'd expect from a high school junior and a sister's prospective boyfriend and his posse. (Is it a stereotype to assume that people from Richfield travel around in posses?)
I came away with a first impression that was positive but didn't lead to immediate hero worship. I was satisfied with the diagnosis of no apparent indication of dorkiness*, creepiness, or brutishness *[except as ironic as it sounds given the circumstances I did notice his glasses and how thick they were but that was after I noticed how 'thick' his biceps/pectorials were so I decided not to bring it up. Apparently, kids with glasses just need to lift more weights if they don't want to get harassed.]
Time passed and I got to know Ryan better as he started coming around more than just when we needed a hole dug in the backyard. I can say that initially there was not much indication that we had much in common. Ryan was studying athletic Training/I was a recovering fat kid attempting to be an athlete. Ryan was in the National Guard/I get knocked down when I shoot a .22. When it comes to simple machines Ryan is exceptionally handy/ when it comes to simple machines I put the handy in cap. The list goes on.
However it didn't take me long to know that I really liked Ryan and I'd, well obviously, stake my reputation onto a large stick and shake it around online for him. Of his many fantastic qualities what I appreciate most about Ryan is what he has done for my sister.
Rachel pre-Ryan was well as I said yesterday, super. Rachel post-Ryan leaves pre-Ryan Rachel in a different time zone. The acceptance and love Rachel got from Ryan allowed her to take all of these amazing qualities that she'd been tamping down so she wouldn't draw attention to herself and fully be her best self. The change was immediate and it has been lasting.
Marriage should always be about being with the person who brings out the best you. For Rachel and Ryan that couldn't be more true. Ryan (I assume your reading this along with a few others) thanks for taking care of my big sister. If at any point a younger brother joins my two daughters or how ever many it is then I will explicitly tell him that he should hope and pray that 1st Sister and 2nd Sister can find someones who make them what you've made Rachel.
There you have it yet another reason to vote for Ryan Palmer "My Dad's Eyes" @ the Hoopes Vision Video Contest do so right now by clicking right here:
http://www.hoopesvision.com/contest/finalists.html
It'll make today a little more sunny which is something we could all use*! That is unless you're reading this from some place sunny all the time which makes me envy you [until you start bragging about it and then that envy gives way to loathing. I may or may not have Seasonal Affective Disorder].
3 comments:
I remember that night well. We(the posse) were actually shooting hoops in the back with your dad and I think Charles.
As much as you think that I bring out the best in Rachel, I wanted to marry her because she brought out the best in me, and still does. (and because she's pretty and funny and smart)
Thanks for the kind words and refreshing good memories.
I told Ryan that this blog is kind of like sitting in the rafters of the church listening to your own funeral.
Your words are very kind and very true. Ryan is a great guy and does bring out the best in me.
I also remember that first encounter playing hoops in the back yard. I kept trying to figure out exactly which boy was the "chosen one". Believe it or not, I still wasn't sure after it was all over.
Let's just say that Richfield boys, regardless of their profession, have kind of taken the air out of the old high school cheer, which starts out something like this, "They say a Cedar boy is hard to beat..."
It's a good thing there isn't a younger daughter still unmarried. I'd be headed north with my 8 cows looking for an arranged marriage.
... although.. there is John.... If Richfield boys are this great, the girls have got to be pretty darn good.
Post a Comment