Jared and I met over 10 years ago in California while on Spring Break. We both were going to Utah State but California is where it all started. The first time I met him is when we were in line to go to a taping of The Wayne Brady Show. It was instant attraction on my part. He was tall with dark hair and eyes. Totally my type. We had a mutual friend and so that's how we came to be standing in line together. During Spring Break we went to the basketball game, had dinner, and then danced the night away at a club. When we returned to Logan I didn't see him again until summer break.
Dinner at Mimi's Cafe in Anaheim, CA
(Jared, top left)
I was sitting in Sunday School class when I noticed someone cute outside the door but could only see his back (yes, I was that boy crazy that I found guys attractive from the back). When he turned around who was I very pleasantly surprised to see? Jared! When he came into the classroom and sat down behind me I was debating whether to talk to him or not. Would he remember me? What would I say? I made my decision real quick when a cute girl sat down beside him. I didn't want them two chatting it up so I made my move. I acted like I had just noticed him and said, "Oh! Hey Jared! How's it going?". And he said, "Hey, Kristin!" Yes!! He remembered my name! I really don't remember what happened directly after that but it lead to a summer of hanging out and having a lot of fun together. We went to FHE activities, parties, Warped Tour concert, and clubs together and built a friendship and shared a mutual love for Yellowcard while I was still holding on to the crush. I didn't think anything would ever come of it and that he would return my feelings but you can't help you fall for, right?
So that school year we were actually neighbors. He lived across the parking lot in a house with his friends. My friend liked his roommate so we didn't think the situation could get any better. Well, it could have...they could have kept the curtains open more ;) We both ended up moving after that first semester. He moved to a different apartment and I moved to Orem with my best friend. I had already met Daniel at that point and was developing a relationship with him so I just lost touch with Jared. Facebook had not come about then and so when someone left your life you didn't expect to keep in touch.
I occasionally thought about him through the years but not too often. During the divorce process when I was preparing to move I came across my college journals. They were filled with things about Jared and the fun stuff we did together. I thought that I would look him up and see what he was up to. After a nifty search on Facebook I found his profile and sent a friend request. I had to wait four anxious minutes for him to accept.
Turns out that Jared had gotten a divorce the year before. He had also just moved to Northern California from Washington and has two adorable children, a boy and a girl. For the first few months we exchanged a couple messages here and there. I quickly came to realize that we thought a lot alike on a variety topics and that he was a very good source for advice. He had just been through what I was going through and he could relate to me like nobody else. Plus, I really liked having a guy's perspective on things. Our messaging became more frequent and we've had a few phone calls here and there. I started sharing things with him that I hadn't shared with many other people or no other people at all. We found out that we have eerie similarities in our experiences with our marriages. And another creepy thing is that I had a dream that I ran into him at Chuck E Cheese. We had just been there for my Melia's birthday and that night I had the dream. I thought it was so odd so I told him about it and he found it hilarious because he had just been to Chuck E Cheese too. Weird, right!? I never have to worry about being judged or looked down upon by him and it feels so good to have that with someone. I value his friendship and I know that a big reason we met all those years ago is so that we could be a source of friendship and support to each other now. God surely knows when and where to put people in our lives at just the right time.
