Peter and I met in high school. Of course we each have our own stories of how it all happened way back when, but the story we will tell now is how we found each other again-twelve years later.
It was a dark and stormy night in November of 2006. Seriously, it really was. There was a huge snow storm that hit hard and fast. Businesses were closing fast along with the roads I needed to take to get home. What normally was a forty-five minute drive was taking me over four hours.
Barely hitting the halfway point and literally driving around in circles, I accepted the fact that I wasn’t going to make it home that night. I racked my brain to think about who I know that still lived in the neighborhood I grew up in and was still circling. I called the home of a friends parents, but to my demise, no one answered. Saying yet another prayer, getting more and more irritated, tired and having my anxiety kick up a few more notches, I took a really deep breath and as I exhaled, Peter's name popped in my head. Trying to calm the butterflies in my stomach-I dialed information for Peter's phone number. Now, I actually called Peter's fathers house. I honestly had no idea who would answer. Did Peter even live there? Did his father? I just crossed my fingers, remembered to breath and prayed. Eduard, Peter's father answered the phone. He is hard of hearing and didn't understand anything I said, so he handed the phone to his daughter, Sabrina. The conversation went like this.
Ayrian: "OH! Uh, hi Sabrina? I don't know if you remember me, but I dated Peter back in high school. Well, I'm kinda stuck on the road and closer to your house than mine. Can I crash out there tonight?"
Sabrina: "Sure! You remember how to get here?"
Ayrian: "Yes, and thank you so much. See you very soon."
Finally able to breathe once again but still quite nervous and anxious, I made it up the hills dodging the sliding cars, those stuck on the side of the road and finally pulled into the cul-de-sac to the Ott household. Sabrina welcomed me with open arms and a cozy couch for me to crash on. Peter wasn't home that night, he was at a friends house a few blocks away. He did show up the next morning around 6:30 am. I was sitting, huddle in a pile of blankets on the couch in the dark watching the news and trying to figure out if I should venture out when Peter walked up the stairs. He thought I was one of Sabrina's friends and politely introduced himself. I then introduced myself and well, Peter fell backward into the fire place but survived it without injury. We spent the first half of the day together. Once Peter got over the initial shock, he made me some coffee and offered breakfast. It was fun to spend the time with him - we both were a little nervous and really didn't know what to do with the situation, but we got through it and well, by the time I left around noon, Peter wasn't willing to let me go, so he gave me every phone number he had so that I could get a hold of him at any time of the day.
Once I got home, I immediately went online and ordered a thank you tea gift basket to be delivered to Peter, Sabrina and Eduard for their generosity and hospitality. About two weeks later, I was hanging out with my sister, Anna and mentioned that I sent the gift and was surprised that I didn't hear anything from Peter. Well, that evening he called and asked me out on a date. Our first second date was another stormy night. I was on my way to his house from work and the power was out everywhere. I called to see if Peter wanted to reschedule, but he insisted I still show up. There was only one store that was opened and luckily their debit machine was still working so I could pick up a bottle of wine. When I got to Peter's house and walked inside, my breath was taken away. He had oil lanterns burning, baked potatoes in the wood stove and soup cooking on the camping stove. I was very impressed. After eating our potatoes and soup by lantern light with his sister Sabrina and his father, Eduard we spent the rest of the evening playing board games. It was the beginning of the sequel.
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