The first thing I noticed about Rusty was his butt. I could not help but notice it, it was sticking up from underneath the hood of a truck. We were having a party, Lori had a boyfriend. I was being set up with a guy that night to see if we got along. But Becky at the time was very single, and she did not want to go to the party alone. So Lori, Becky and me hopped into Becky's car, and headed down 90 to see if we could find a guy for Becky. I know it sounds a little stupid and wild, but it had worked before. We made it to Wal-Mart and started heading back to go down 90 again. When Lori whistled out the window. There was a big crew cap truck, with a big trailer attached to it. On the trailer was a old car. When Becky went to turn into the parking lot where they were, me and Lori were yelling at her no! no!. But she pulled in and asked if we could do anything to help.
We found out they were from Missouri and delivering a car to someone in Lake City. There truck had over heated, and they thought it had a cracked head. We offered to help them find the place where they were to drop of the car. And we invited them to the party. Rusty was not very talkative at this point, I think he might have said 5 words. I still remember the address he needed to drop the car off at, 2717 E Putnam. His friend Daniel was the talker.
We dropped of the car. Becky took the guy to the truck stop in Ellisville to take a shower. When they finally got back Lori’s boyfriend and the guy I was to be set up with had showed up. Well the night went buy, Rusty spent most of his time watching a movie on TV. The guy I was being set up with tuned out to be,,, well lets just say not my type. But one good thing that did come out of him is that he struck up a conversation with Rusty. When the guy finally left, I continued the conversation with Rusty. And there is started. We stayed up all night long talking about everything. It was wonderful, I had never talked to a guy so long. I did find out that he was married, and had a child. But according to him it was not going so well. I was disappointed to find that out, but I decided to give him a shot. I thought he would be gone in a week or so, and never think about me again. But that is not what happen.
As the week progressed we became closer and closer. Till one day he confessed his love for me. We were standing out on the balcony of the hotel room when he did. It made me feel wonderful inside to hear him say that. No man had ever said that to me before. But I could not say it back. I didn't feel like I was ready. Plus, even though he told me that his marriage was not going well. It still weight heavy on me. He was a little disappointed but understood. A couple of days later we went out to a spring to spend some time alone. (His driving partner was with him too) It was dark, and we were talking and looking at the stars, when I felt that I had to tell him something. Everything was perfect, and I told him that I loved him.
Well the truck was almost fixed and they were going to leave soon. We were both kind of down that we were not going to see each other. Rusty made the comment "To bad you can't go with me." Well that put the idea in my head. So I quiet my job, and backed my bags. I was going on the road with him.
Now it is late December, I had been on the road with Rusty for about four months. And what wonderful months they were. Most of the time it was just me and him. So it was 24/7 of spending time with him and getting to know him. I had covered many, many states just in those few months. I had also learned a little about driving the truck, with the trailer on it. Well I had come home to Florida for Christmas, and Rusty stayed in Missouri to spend Christmas with his family. But he was able to make it to Florida for New Years. On New Years Day he surprised with a romantic candle light dinner, cutesy of grandma Shirley. We even had romantic music. That is the night he proposed to me. That was defiantly one of the top 5 best moments of my life. This is the time when I shed some tears (I was not really a crier).
We got married on May 31, 2001. It was a very small wedding. But wonderful. Then we had our first child on November 11, 2002 via C-Section. We have now been married a year and a half. And I have to say, it has been the most wonderful time in my life. He is a wonderful and thoughtful husband, and an excellent father. I caught me a good one, and I love telling people the story of how we met.
