You're still the one...

Now a days so many women feel they will be losing their “identity” if they take the name of the man they marry. There is the classic “hyphenated” two names. Then there is the “create a new” name (i.e. “Smiones” for a his/Smith and hers/Jones combination). Some choose the “retain your birth” names route. This option is a popular choice when both husband and wife have established professional identities. And believe it or not there are even couples who are now picking an entirely new last name to share.

I’ll be completely honest! I could not wait until we got home from our honeymoon to apply for my new social security card and change my driver’s license. I wanted the entire world to know that I was Jodi Watkins HAWTHORNE! I had married the man of my dreams and I was his, all his!

Nathan and I have a unique history. We met at church while attending Florida State University in Tallahassee, Florida. Both Nathan and I began our junior year at F.S.U. the fall of 1994. I am sure we met when school first started, but it wasn’t until one day walking across campus when we ran into each other that we started to become friends. That is my very first memory of Nathan! The funny thing is that when I got back to my apartment I told my roommate that I had ran into him on campus. She asked “Who?” to which my response was “I don’t know his name, I just know he is in our ward and really nice”.

My next memory of Nathan was the Halloween dance. It was a costume party. I went as Dorothy from the Wizard of Oz and Nathan went as Bobby Bowden (for those of you who have no idea who Bobby Bowden is…well…it is OBVIOUS you do not watch college football…Bobby Bowden is a legend and has been the head football coach for Florida State University since 1976).

Then it was November and I am not quite sure, but it must have been late November. At this point I don’t think Nathan and I were more than acquaintances. I just remember being at the Institute Building to type the term paper from “down under”, if you get my drift. I was so stressed! Nathan was there too. I can’t remember why…maybe Family Home Evening or maybe it was to attend an Institute Class…but it really doesn’t matter. All I remember was how good he smelt!

He came up behind me to see what I was typing and looked over my shoulder. He was so close I not only could smell him, but if I turned my head to the left my lips would have been touching his cheek. There must have been at least two dozen butterflies in my stomach doing somersaults! He could tell I was stressed, made a very sincere observation and proceeded to massage my shoulders to relax me. (~~Disclosure~~To Nathan’s defense he was so clueless! We’ve discussed this on more than one occasion and I honestly believe him when he says that he had no idea that his sincerity was starting to stir my emotions! He really was just being nice!)

December came and I had planned to surprise a friend, I was kind of seeing, with a picnic on the beach. Needless to say he wasn’t being very nice and I said to myself “forget him and take someone who will appreciate you”. That is when I decided to gather up the courage to ask Nathan out on our first date.

I’ll never forget how nervous I was calling his dorm room. I can’t remember if Dave or Chris answered the phone, but Nathan wasn’t there. He called me back later that night and said yes! I surprised Nathan with a trip to Panama City and a sunset picnic on the beach. I was able to show him the condo my grandmother lived in before she passed away and we sat and talked for hours on the very same sugar white sands that our little girls now play in every year when we vacation.

The drive to Panama City from Tallahassee is just under two hours. So we drove for almost two hours there, spent just over an hour eating on the beach, and then drove home for almost another two hours. I know I’m a talker and did my fair share of the talking, but it wasn't all me. We actually had a lot in common and there wasn't any of those awkward moments of silence. I was mesmerized at how easy it was to talk WITH Nathan. It was then that I decided I wanted to get to know him better. I was starting to really like him.

The Christmas dance was the following weekend and two things happened that night that I have etched in my heart forever. First, there was a “Cinderella Dance”. All the girls were supposed to put a shoe in the pile. Then the guys would randomly pick a shoe and dance with the girl it belonged to. Cheesy I know and I hate things like this! Well, Nathan convinced me to put my shoe on the edge of the pile. He promised he’d grab it before anyone else could get to it so we could dance together and he did!

Then the memory of all memories happened. The one that still melts my heart to this day!

Okay, you have to get a mental picture. We were dancing the traditional way where the girl puts her left hand on the guy’s shoulder and the guy puts his right hand around the girl’s waste. They both hold the others right and left hands keeping their arms outstretched. Got it…okay…

We were slow dancing to the song “Shameless” by Garth Brooks when all of the sudden he took my right hand and very gently placed it on his chest over his heart. My heart skipped a beat and it was then that I knew I wanted to be more than just friends! (~~Another Disclosure~~This is another moment that to this day Nathan pleads clueless! He says he meant nothing by this gesture and my response was and still is that his subconscious must have been telling him that I was to be the mother of his children. QUESTION: Can guys really be that clueless? ANSWER: Yes!!!)

We went home for the holidays! New Years Eve was approaching and my parents were having their annual New Years Eve Party. So I invited Nathan. His parents were living in Titusville and to my surprise he said yes. I was nervous and my sister, K.C. kept reassuring me that he had to like me! I remember her telling me why else would he be driving two hours to attend a party for a bunch of adults he's never met.

Spring semester was about to begin and I couldn't wait until Nathan returned from Christmas break. We discovered during our telephone conversations that we were both enrolled in a sociology class this term. We would be spending a lot more time together.

Nathan and I dated for one hundred seventy weeks before he asked me to marry him. We have so many memories during that time period it would be impossible for me to share all of them here. I wish I could say they are all good, but I wouldn’t be being honest. We’ve had our fair share of ups and downs, but the important thing is we allowed those experiences to strengthen who we were individually and who we are together. Isn’t that what all relationships are all about?

I remember as the days turned into weeks, weeks into months, and months into years I decided that when Nathan did finally propose to me I wouldn’t press the issue of setting a wedding date. So you can imagine my delight when he told me he was thinking early fall 1998 for a wedding. We were married three months and twelve days shy of four years from our first date.

It's almost hard to believe that ten years ago today I became Mrs. Nathan Claude Hawthorne. It seems like yesterday I fell in love with him! I love you, Nathan, with all that I am! You’re still the one I want to hold my hand! You’re still the one I want to whisper in my ear! You’re still the one who makes me laugh! You’re still the one I want forever! You’re still the one I dream of and you’re still the one I want to kiss good night! SIMPLY~~YOU’RE STILL THE ONE!