Our Story, Part 1

This is the story of how we began, part 1.

Caleb and I both went to Freed-Hardeman University. He is a year older than me and so came in a year before. What's funny is Freed is like a big High School, most everyone knows everyone. If you don't know the person, you know OF the person. If you don't know OF the person, then that probably means either you or the person is a loner (or just really hates the Freed-bubble environment and tries really hard to never be in it). Well Caleb and I just knew OF one another.

This is what I knew OF Caleb Kersey: He was this tall, cute guy that wore his hair really shaggy and walked with his nose in the air. So this is judgmental Heather's conclusion: He was cocky and thought he was a model. Other than that, I knew he was in Xi Chi, hung around a bunch of annoying, cocky, jerkish guys, and had dated Erin McCutchen. Now I'm not saying there is anything inherently wrong with Xi Chi, his friends, or Erin...but I will just say, seeing just that from afar made judgmental Heather's assessment to be that of "he must not be that good of a guy."

I do recall one time someone saying that Caleb Kersey was a really nice guy and super smart. I remember thinking, "him?!" One other memory involves a few girls talking about how "hott" Caleb Kersey was. I remember saying "really? you think so?" Needless to say, I wasn't impressed from afar. My judgment had already been made.

I can't say Caleb had too many thoughts of me either during his time at Freed. It's unbelievable to me that we (to either of our knowledge and memory) never met. That's just strange. We were both social people, and even had a few of the same acquaintances, but still I do not recall ever meeting or saying one word to the guy. Nor does he, I. Caleb claims he knew who I was and thought I was a "cute girl." That's about all he has ever said.

Based on the very limited and lame thoughts we had of each other then, who would have ever thought just six years later, I would be marrying this guy!

My first memory of Caleb Kersey after I moved to Nashville was seeing him at Hillsboro church. At the time, I was attending there and dating a guy I worked with. I remember seeing him one time when he came to visit and thinking, "oh I know who that is." And that was that.

The next memory and a more prominent one involved New Years 2007. A girl from Hillsboro had a lot a people over to her apartment for a NYE party. The guy I was dating and I went. There were a lot of random people there and not necessarily people that attended Hillsboro all the time. Caleb was one of them. It's funny now because I have a big group picture taken that evening and both Caleb and I are in it. I think that night could possibly be the first time Caleb and I ever spoke. It's really weird thinking about it now because the guy I am marrying today does not at all seem to be the guy that was at that party that night. Not that he has changed. But just for the simple fact of that guy was an unknown and the guy of today I know so well. I almost equate them as two different people. I remember that evening a few of Caleb's Freed friends were there as well. I remember meeting them and chatting and thinking “huh, they aren’t so bad.” I don't remember any more particulars other than that night when we left, I asked the guy I was dating what he thought and if he enjoyed meeting everyone. He responded that there were a few guys (Caleb's friends) that he thought were probably jerks but he thought the Caleb guy was pretty cool. Just kind of a fun thought now.

Fast forward later that year, around December, and I start going to a different church, Crieve Hall. The guy and I broke up and I wanted a change of scenery. Well around that same time, it so happens Caleb has started to attend at Crieve Hall as well. I don’t recall the “first time” I saw him there, but I do have two fun thoughts prior to really getting to know him as more of a friendly acquaintance.

One Sunday morning, a friend was visiting from out of town with me. We were coming into class late. My friend and I are walking hurriedly in the parking lot toward the church and we see Caleb Kersey and his friend walking to the building as well. Our friends knew one another more than Caleb and I knew one another and had said hi and everything. We both get to the classroom door together and are reluctant to go in and so all go in together. We sit down. I remember thinking “I’m sitting by Caleb Kersey.”

The other fun thought is very similar. It involves us both being late, again. This is a Sunday evening for worship. We are both outside the doors of the auditorium waiting for the prayer to end to go inside. Since we are there together, we walk in together, and we sit together. I remember thinking “I’m sitting by Caleb Kersey.” It was like strangely exciting for some reason. I remember when we stood up to sing, I thought “man, he’s tall!” I even remember what I was wearing that night. Why? Because I remember thinking, “I look like crap!” I had my orange North Face jacket on with jeans and my hair was curly pulled back in a pony tail.

The next five or six months Caleb and I both continued to go to Crieve Hall regularly. One of my closest girlfriends at the time knew Caleb really well from Freed. We randomly hang out in church groups together. During this time, I came to find out Caleb really is a nice, good guy. But I had these other thoughts about him. That he was a big flirt. That girls liked him. And he knew it. And that part of Caleb Kersey, I still didn’t like. But I was strangely drawn to him. And that really annoyed me. My girlfriend actually had a crush on Caleb and would talk to me regularly about him. I would always just listen and push thoughts of Caleb Kersey out of my head. Why am I thinking about him? I don’t like him! Please! I do not want to be just another girl that likes him! I don’t like flirts. But he never really flirted with me. I definitely gave no thought to him liking me and tried to push thoughts of ever liking him out of my head.

During May 2008 (and after the time my friend had a crush on Caleb, I might add), Caleb starts texting me. I’m not sure how he even got my number. I wish I had these texts now. They would be funny to read. I don’t really remember what he would text me about it. They were like conversations. I would text him back, even though I thought it was really strange he was texting all of the sudden in the first place. I thought, “oh great, here he is flirting with me now. such a player…” One string of texts, I recall asking him how many girls he text all the time like this. He tried to explain he wasn’t what I thought he was and texts the statement “I will prove it to you.” A few nights later, on Memorial Day evening 2008, Caleb Kersey calls me.