A Small Congratulations
If I remember correctly (well, if my digging up the files surrounding this event yielded the correct results), it was early fall of 2001 when I did a very small part to help the process of bringing together two people who were meant to be together. Had I been there or not, I am convinced Matt and Shayla would still have come together, but I like to think I helped two good friends in a small way.
The issue was, Matt and Shayla liked one another, but had not yet made the dating step. It’s a frightening jump for anybody in any situation, but the small social community of high school we were in at the time really put the pressure on. I was able to do a little ferrying of information between the two parties, with the hope that some back-channel lines of communication would prod things in the right direction. This culminated in a successful Going Out status between Matt and Shayla. Apologies, Matt, for reproducing one of the 4+ year old chats here …
Matt: i like said “can i say somethin?” then i turned down the raido… then i was like “ok, so like i think we both know the answer to this question, but i think you’re really awesome, so will you go out with me?” so that’s what i said
Alex: hey thats pretty good! was habe sie gesagen?
Matt: she said “yeah” lol, i don’t really remember i was so nervous
Matt: i felt my face like go totally red, (like steve’s) when i was asking, and i was like cold before, but i had said it in my head a lot before i asked her, so i wouldn’t sound too retarded
…
Alex: like you coulda practiced asking me out and i could tell you if it was good or not
Matt: lol!!! that would be awkward
Alex: yeah … what if i said yes?
Alex: like
Alex: you were so convincing that i had to say yes
In the midst of the changes that college inevitably bring to one’s life, I find it comforting to think that two people have lasted so long, their lives lashed together to weather the turbulence of these changing seas of life. There is so much more to say, but I intend to save it for any formal, public occasions in the future. Why is that? Because Matt and Shayla, as of very recently, are officially engaged to be married! I was, I admit, a little girly in my intial reaction - my voice went up about two octaves, I pranced about, and I babbled happy statements (but seriously, it really happened that way).
Allow me to raise a preemptive toast to the two of you, two wonderful friends of mine!
Comments
Shayla
Thank you Alex… Thank you for what you did back then and what you wrote now. You're an amazing person and I am so glad to have you as a friend. Thank you :)
Richard Roche
congrats to matt and shayla!
ps. i thought this part was funny: "i felt my face like go totally red, (like steve’s)"
Matt
Very nice post, Alex. Thanks buddy!! Always been a good friend :)
Dan McKeown
congrats to you two, but more importantly, what does "was habe sie gesagen?" mean? maybe thats only important to me actually
Shayla
Dan - it means "What did she say?" in German, which is a nice trip down memory lane as the three of us had German together. Ah. Memories.