Article Contributed on: 2/5/2007 2:36:58 PM
In October 1998, a girl walked into a bar (on a lame first date) and saw a cute bartender. (The guy looked taller behind the bar.) There were sparks and sprinkles and Bud Light, and the girl sorta knew that the bartender might be"The One."
While the lame date went to the bathroom, the girl asked the bartender if she could give him her number and she wondered, aloud, if he took her number would he call?
He called her the very next day. On their first date, they watched football with his weird friends and had some very good kissing.
Fast forward through a year of dining and movies and traveling to nude beaches, spending romantic mornings on the balcony in the sunshine, drinking coffee, listening to James Taylor and talking about life. It was also a year of commitment issues and of breaking up and getting back together. Then they broke up--for good it seemed.
Sam wasn't ready for marriage, but Stephanie thought she was...and then some. They dated other people, (Stephanie more than Sam) but stayed friends--good friends. Sam bought Stephanie a ring. She freaked out and told him not to ask THE question.
They went to Kentucky for Memorial weekend, (as just friends), but Sam hoped for more and he and Stephanie had one last big fight. They stopped talking all together. He went to Belize to find himself, but the blue water reminded him of Stephanie's blue eyes. They weren't talking, but they were emailing. He wanted to marry her. She wasn't sure. Stephanie got her heart broken by someone else and Sam told her that he would always be "the last man standing." She didn't believe him and told him they would be "just friends."
Then September 11th happened. THE September 11th.
Stephanie was alone as she watched those terrible images on television. She got a dog. She started a new job. She wondered why she was being stubborn and deep down knew that Sam really was "The One," but he was dating someone else. He took that girl to Mazatlan, but Stephanie was on his mind.
From then on, Stephanie would call Sam once in a while, only to tell him the important things: that her grandfather had died, that she got laid off for the 2nd time that year and that she was in a scary car accident.
In November 2001, (3 years after they met), they met for karaoke at The Parker Station (as just friends.) There was a spark and sprinkles and Bud Light.They spent the weekend talking about getting back together. Sam told her that it would have to be for good.
They were married in February 2002, and their son Jett was born in August 2002. Chase was born in 2004.
It's been crazy ever since, but that's what happened when Sam met Stephanie, and she wouldn't have it any other way!