The Beginning

Ok, so I guess we should start at the beginning. A good place to start would be grade 12. This is the year we "found" each other. See, I put quotation marks around that word because, truth be told, I (April) had a fondess for Paul since grade nine. More about that later. Anywho, this is the year we had grade 12 and OAC Math together. Coincidentally, I sat in the seat ahead of him, and the rest, as they say, was history. Or... uh... math. Whatever. You get the picture.

Speaking of pictures, here are some golden oldies. Paul and me in grade 12. Can you feel the love? Or, is that just Paul's awesome 'do? I'd put money on the latter. What's that? Oh, what's the deal with my hair, you ask? Well, I can only assume that its body and frizziness is thanks to years of home perms catching up with it. You read right: home perms. Do they even exist anymore? Something tells me they were taken off the market due to health regulations. That may explain a lot, actually.


I digress. So, you've enjoyed a couple of blasts from the past here. Let's move on to the story of our first date.

As far as "dates" go, prior to ours, I don't think I had ever been on one. So, when Paul (who was seeing someone else at the time - Tsk! Tsk! Tsk!) asked if he could drive me to the Peter Carty Memorial that fateful night in February 1995, I thought "... drive? Do you know where I live?" In fact, those were the exact words I said to him. To which he replied "Yes... umm... but, I'll pick you up." And he did.

So, off we went to the basketball game and cheered on our friends on the court. I remember the night very vividly, actually. (I feel like the narrator on the Wonder Years right now... which, I guess, isn't a bad thing.) Anyway, he left early and I didn't give it a second thought. Then - lo and behold - the phone rang when I got home. And my life changed forever. Paul and I began a long journey that night which I don't think anybody in their right minds would have thought would still be going strong in 2006. But, here we are. And that's the story of the beginning.

To finish this off, here's a solid pic of us at our grade 12 formal. I promise we got better looking as time went on. And, my fashion sense improved. A little.