Today is the 23rd anniversary of my first date with Jim. We try to go out to dinner every year to celebrate this momentous occasion. LOL

Jim and I met during my first weekend (he was a year ahead of me) at the University of Virginia.  We met the end of August at a fraternity party and casually hung out.  He “officially” asked me to go out with him to the September 8th football game against Clemson.

Apparently this game was a very big deal because UVa had not beaten Clemson in a ridiculous number of years (over 30 if I remember – Jim would know).  We sat on the hill with his fraternity. Actually, Jim just told me UVa had NEVER beaten Clemson.

It was a fairly normal first date… except for the fact that my date was painted blue and orange! At the time I wasn’t sure whether or not he was trying to impress me with the paint. Actually, I’m still not sure whether or not he was trying to impress me with the paint. 

It was an incredibly exciting game and I had a great time.  And it was quite remarkable because UVa actually won the game.

A month later, Jim gave me a card. It had Ziggy (remember Ziggy?) on the front staring off into a sunset. Jim had typed, printed, and taped to the front of the card: “One month ago, as if it were destiny…”

I opened it up and it read: “UVa beat Clemson.” It also had a newspaper photo of Jim cheering the victory.

Quite a romantic way to celebrate, huh?!