Hot For Teacher

Sharon recently wrote about the moment where your life changed, where you were set on a path to meet your significant other. Not only did her story make me smile, but it made me think about MY story.

When people ask how I met my husband, I usually take a deep breath to stall for time, then say, "HewasmySeniorEnglishteacherbutwedidn'tstartdatinguntilaftergraduation
ISWEAR." And yes, I say it all in one breath just like that. Eight years after the fact, it shouldn't be scandalous because obviously, OBVIOUSLY, we've withstood the test of time. But you know what? I still get raised eyebrows over it and some untoward comments. Although equally, I get people who exclaim that it's such a cool story. In fact, I even got to share my story on the radio once, which was pretty funny, until I got to work and realized that my STUDENTS all listened to it on the bus. Double in fact, you can download and listen to my 5 minutes of fame! You should listen to it just for the dangling participle joke.

When I registered for classes my Senior year, Shane was not on my schedule. In fact, neither myself nor my friends had ever had Shane as a teacher. I was always in Honors English courses, as were many of my friends. Senior year, however, I didn't take Math or Science (it was SWEET), and instead, took three or four English classes, one of which was Themes in Lit. Two weeks before school, my schedule had a female teacher for Themes in Lit, but on the first day of school, I was given a new schedule with Shane for Themes in Lit. I remember being so annoyed because I was supposed to have class with a bunch of my friends with a teacher I knew and liked, and instead, I was stuck in a class with no one I knew with some guy I'd never met. When I walked into his room, I remember noticing his bright blue eyes and thinking, Hmm, maybe this won't be so bad. Themes was only a semester course, and as the semester went on, I developed a crush on him, partially because he was always complimenting my writing skills, but also because he was witty and we had a great deal in common. Oh, and those eyes. As the semester drew to a close, I did a very un-Erin like thing. I went to my guidance counselor with a fib about how I planned on majoring in Drama in college, and even though Drama was a yearlong course, was there any way I could transfer into Shane's drama class second semester? She bought my story, and of course, Shane gave her his approval to allow me into the class. Drama was a much smaller class, and we had a lot more time to talk. I'm going to be honest here... I flirted with him, a lot, but he never returned the flirting, not once.

As the school year came to a close, I invited him to my graduation party. Much to my surprise, he was the first one there! He didn't stay long, but he gave me a card in which he wrote a great deal. He said that I was beautiful, smart, and funny and that you so rarely find such a thing. He said he was going to miss me, and he hoped we could stay in touch. I wrote him a thank you note and included my phone number, saying that I'd love to go out for lunch before I left for school. He began visiting me at work, and finally in August, he asked me out. Our first date was amazing. We went to Chicago and visited museums and the aquarium. We spent the entire day together, and we've been together ever since. And yes, we played "Hot For Teacher" at our wedding reception!

That was my moment. A twist of fate, a change in the schedule, and I walked into my future husband's life. In all my years of school, my schedule was never changed, not once. I was never given any explanation for the change, but I am so thankful for it.