Love and Pumpkin Pie

I met Randy three years ago last August, on the first Sunday of the semester. I had lived in the ward for a year previous, and Randy happened to move in just downstairs from me with his cousin Jonathan. Randy had been friends with my cousin and roommate Andrea their freshman year, so we met through her and all walked home from church together. He was a little younger than I was, so I didn't really think of him as a dating prospect, even though I remember thinking he was really cute. So I went on dating other random guys in my ward and people I met in classes or through friends, wishing that I could meet a really nice guy who could also be my best friend. About a month and a half passed, and I would see Randy around FHE and church, but I never really stopped to talk to him much--he remained the funny kid who lived downstairs. I had one other roommate besides Andrea, and we had all been pretty close friends the year before. Things changed that fall as she was diagnosed with a thyroid problem that completely changed her personality. She was suddenly combative, and nothing we could do changed her mind that we were no longer friends. One Sunday in mid October Andrea and I went downstairs to lend Randy a blender so he could make homemade pumpkin pie, and midway through helping him make the pie Andrea had to go upstairs to deal with the roommate crisis. This left me helping Randy, who I really didn't know all that well, make the pie. As I helped him I was surprised how easy he was to talk to, and I left that afternoon with a really good friend. The rest is history . . . by Christmas friendship had changed into something else, in spite of both our efforts to keep things "just friends." We kissed a month later (Jan. 31, his 22 birthday) and were married two years almost to the day after that first kiss.
That first pumpkin pie was kind of a disaster, unlike the friendship that followed. Maybe we were concentrating more on talking than on the pie, or maybe Randy is a bit of an impatient cook. In any case, that friendship which started over pumpkin pie has carried us through many hard times during the three years to follow. I was reminded of these beginnings tonight, because we braved a sequel to that first, lumpy, nasty pumpkin pie. This one, I am happy to report, was delicious. :o)