Our Story
How We Met ....
The Very Beginning
I was about 11 years old and Jason must have been about 16 years old. He had braces and a six-pack ... and I had a crush.
It was the summer of 1995 in Osoyoos, BC. I was staying in a motel with my parents, their friends, and their children - the boys I grew up with. I was in the "younger kids" group and my sister was in the "older kids" group, along with Kevin Martins (who was also Jason's friend from school).
Each summer, there would be a big soccer tournament in Osoyoos where all the Portuguese men would gather, drink beer, and eat bifanas. I don't know how Jason ended up coming to our motel for a swim, but I think it must have been because his dad, Fernando, knew Kevin's dad and my dad from the old Micalence soccer days.
All I remember was Jason playing in the pool with the "older kids" and me, off to the side, admiring from afar. Okay, so I was only 11 ... but you can imagine the crush I had on this cute 16 yr old boy. I'm pretty sure he never said one word to me. Afterall, I was in the "younger kids" group that the "older kids" wanted nothing to do with.
That was the last I saw of Jason that summer ...
The Second Meeting
Another Summer Crush
It was the summer of 1999. I was now 15 years old and Jason was about 20 years old. I went to Osoyoos again with my parents and brough my friend Allison with us. Kevin Martins was there .... with all of his friends. You can probably imagine how happy Allison and I were to be in the same motel with tons of older boys.
Allison and I spent most of the weekend hanging out with Kevin and his friends, which included Jason, of course. Jason and I got to know each other, and I even washed his hair for him after he broke his collar bone from falling off a moped.
We never exchanged contact information and I didn't see Jason again for a long long time ...
Right Place, Right Time
It was now the fall of 2003. My sister had just started seeing Paulo Fernandes ... another one of Kevin Martins' friends. Within the same time period, I happened to pass by Jason at Metrotown. I hadn't seen him in over 4 years, since Osoyoos in the summer of 1999. I actually did a double take.
I told my sister I saw him at Metrotown ... and the next time she saw Jason at The Roxy, she said "Hey, I want to hook you up with my sister". Well, a nightclub run-in here ... and a phone number exchange there .... we made plans to go on our very first date.
Our First Date
I met Jason at his place, where we got into his Prelude (which he still misses) and headed downtown. He took me to this tiny restaurant (that he thought was Milestones). The waitress came to our table so many times to take our order, but we were so caught up in conversation, that we didn't even look at the menu for 45 minutes.
We each ordered steak and potatoes ... which I could have sworn were McDonald's fries. To this day, we still joke about those so-called "potatoes". We watched Jackass and Old School ... two very romantic movies for a first date. ;)
At the end of the night, he gave me a single rose that he had in his car. I wonder if he kept it in his car in case the night went badly??
As the weeks passed, we were inseparable. We spent everyday together and talked on the phone for hours.
Our Five and a Half Years (and counting)
Over the 5+ years we've been together, we have been through a lot. Jason purchased a townhome in Port Moody - where we will both live when we are married. He (sadly) got into a car accident and lost his precious Prelude. I quit my full-time job to go to school full time, and Jason also went back to school part-time.
We have both been very supportive in each other's decisions. It's been a long journey that seemed to have flown by so fast. We can't wait to finally be married and spend the rest of our lives together.
