Our Love Story: Part 9

Preface: If you’ve missed any of the “chapters” of our love story so far, go back & get caught up before continuing below!
Part 1 — Part 2 — Part 3 — Part 4 — Part 5 — Part 6 — Part 7 — Part 8

There have never been a more nerve-wracking 12 days in my entire life. Derrick was coming to spend the weekend with my family. My big, crazy, overwhelming family. I was a bundle of mixed-up emotions. I was excited to see him again in person & way faster than we’d originally thought. I was excited to introduce him to my life. But I was nervous: would my big family be a turn-off? Would they scare him away or intimidate him?

Derrick would be coming into Latrobe on Thursday night on the train. Gas prices were astronomical the summer of 2008 and it was cheaper for him to ride the train across the state than to drive his Jeep. Conveniently, the train station was almost across the street from where Derrick’s brother Paul & sister-in-law Naomi lived.

Thursday night arrived & butterflies aplenty, I headed out to Latrobe to pick up Derrick. Not just me though, my little sister Amy tagged along. She was 12 years old and was already obsessed with Derrick – even though technically she’d never met him. We wanted to be early, because, well what if the train arrived early? The plan was to hang out with Paul & Naomi until the train arrived & then pick up Derrick and take him back to our house.

About an hour before the time the train was to arrive in Latrobe, Amy & I arrived at Paul & Naomi’s apartment. We knocked on their door & Paul answered, looking confused.

“Hey, what’s up?” he asked.

“Hi! We’re here!” I answered, a little too excitedly.

“Right, Derrick’s coming in tonight! Wait, why are you so early?”

“I talked to Naomi – she said it would be okay to hang out until the train arrived – is she home yet?”

“No, I just talked to her, she’s running late. You guys can come in though.”

He moved aside & we walked into their small apartment. Paul was obviously not 100% sure what to do with us. He was my best friend’s husband, but their marriage was still super new & we hadn’t spent an overwhelming amount of time together yet. Not sure what to do with ourselves, we sat down quietly on their lime green couch. Paul went back to playing his video game and we settled in to watch the time tick by & wait.

I looked around the room & my eyes fell on a few photo albums. “Are these your wedding photos? Did you finally get them back?” I asked.

“Yeah, you can look at them,” Paul offered.

Amy & I flipped through the 2 books of proofs from Paul & Naomi’s wedding, 2 months before. I told her stories about their wedding day & we looked for photos of Derrick. Thankfully, the time passed quickly and before we knew it, it was time to walk over to the train station.

As Amy & I were walking over to the station, Naomi flew in. We passed each other in the hall – she had a huge smile on her face. “Is he here yet?” she asked.

“The train should be arriving in about 10 minutes, we’re walking over now!” I responded.

“Okay, I’m going to run in & take a quick shower, I’ll see you afterward!” She buzzed past us.

The plan for the evening was for all of us to head back to the Eichelberger house. My parents were hosting an “ice cream social” & bonfire that night and had invited a variety of families from our church, our homeschool co-op, and other friend circles. So, the plan was for Paul & Naomi to come back with us that night to hang out with us (and a whole bunch of other people).

Amy & I walked across the street & found our way up to the train platform. Having never traveled by train before, or knowing anyone who had, it was an adventure. Thankfully, the Latrobe train station is very small & not too challenging to figure out.

We waited on the platform, anxiously watching the time tick down on my phone. There was one other person on the train platform: a gentleman down at the end who was obviously waiting to get on the train. Thankfully, he wasn’t very social – I’m not sure the butterflies in my stomach would have allowed for any sort of conversation!

The moments melted away and we anxiously watched for the train (not even sure what direction it would be coming down the tracks). And then all of a sudden, it was there. In a flurry, we realized that the door to the car people would be coming out of & getting on, had been parked way at the other end of the platform (coincidentally, where the gentleman was standing). We hustled down and suddenly: he was there. Poking his shaggy-haired head out of the door, he smiled our direction. He carried a small suitcase & almost tripped down the tiny stairs – the minuscule, temporary steps that extended from the train car were obviously not made for 6’3” giants.

He laughed and we smiled at each other – temporarily forgetting that there was a train that needed to be stepped away from and that there were other people around. Because, suddenly there were other people around, not a lot, but apparently the Latrobe stop was home to a handful of people.

Amy cleared her throat & I laughed. “Derrick! This is Amy! She’s the one..”

“I know who she is – we talked on the phone the other day. She couldn’t stop giggling.”

In response, Amy giggled.

“Do you need any help? Can I carry anything for you?” I offered.

Derrick laughed, “No, I think I can handle my one bag all on my own, thank you very much.”

We started moving off of the platform. “How was the train? Was it a nice ride?”

“It was fun! Long. But not bad. The seats were so much roomier than I thought – I guess I was envisioning seating like an airplane, but there was actually a ton of room to stretch out, which made it much more comfortable.”

We walked down the stairs into the train station parking lot. I explained that my car was across the street in Paul & Naomi’s apartment lot & that he could drop his suitcase there before we popped in to say hi to Paul & Naomi.

“We’re all going back to your house, right? Some sort of party your parents are having?”

I laughed, “Yeah – there will be marshmallows to roast over the bonfire & ice cream, are you hungry?”

“Actually, not terribly. I had a snack on the train.”

We walked across the street & he dropped his stuff in my car. Amy was trailing us, quiet, but with a giant smile on her face. She was obviously smitten.

The rest of the evening went by in a blur. Derrick & Paul got roped into being the “anchors” of the water balloon slingshot, we ate ice cream, and sat around the bonfire. Paul & Derrick talked about video games and Naomi & I talked about her new job.

That night, Derrick stayed in my Grandparent’s guest room. My Grandparents live in the same house as my parents, just in their own completely separate “wing”. Since it was either sleep over on our side on the couch, or sleep in my Grandparent’s double guest bed – it only made sense.

Friday morning dawned & with it, we packed up the van to head to Deep Creek Lake. My Dad was staying home that weekend for a softball tournament, so not needing to wait until anyone got home from work, we left for the Lake House early. On the way, we stopped for lunch at our favorite ice cream place: Vinny’s.

I loved being able to introduce Derrick to the Lake House. It was a major part of my life and yet the most challenging to explain. Seeing it in person was the easiest way to grasp what it meant when I said that we went down to the Lake House every weekend in the summer. And as soon as we arrived, Derrick got it.

We arrived early Friday afternoon, and after unloading the van, we headed down to the water. It was the first weekend of August and it was hot so our afternoon was spent centered around the lake. Derrick loves to swim, so the water was instantly calling his name. Not quite the fish myself, but wanting to impress Derrick, I got in the water & waded around a bit too. The canoe was brought down & after a little swimming, Derrick suggested we go out in the canoe. Nervous that she’d miss something, Amy begged to come along, and we agreed.

That night, after dinner, rain rolled in. Stuck inside, we turned to our second-favorite Lake House activity: games. On a particularly heated game of Sorry, my siblings went a little over-the-top with their competition. The sound level rose and for the first time, Derrick wondered what he was getting himself into with this girl & all of her younger siblings.

The rain fell all night that night and into the next morning. We refused to let a little rain spoil our weekend though, so by late morning, we were headed off to Swallow Falls State Park to hike. Muddy Creek Falls is the largest & main waterfall at the State Park and with all the rain, it was absolutely roaring. It had overflowed it’s normal trajectory and was quite the site to see.

My family loves to hike at Swallow Falls State Park. There are many trails, both easy & more challenging, lots of gorgeous spots to stop & take in the raging rapids & waterfalls, and lots of rocks to climb (if you’re so inclined). And Derrick was so inclined. He made me absolutely crazy as he scaled & jumped between the large rocks on the edge of the water. I was amazed at his skill though & remembered that he had recently been rock climbing with his roommate Caleb. If he was showing off (he was), I was definitely impressed.

Thankfully, the rain let up around lunchtime. When we got back to the Lake House, Derrick suggested another canoe ride – this time without any extra passengers. Excited for the opportunity to hang out with him away from my family, I told my Mom that we were going out in the canoe. She gave me the side-eye, and I said, “What? We’ll be in the canoe! What can happen?”

As we paddled away from the dock, I knew that Amy was upset not to be invited along. She had a lightbulb moment though (was it original to her or did my Mom plant the idea?) when she hopped on her bike & rode down the road, watching us out on the lake the whole time.

We chatted away. We talked about the weekend, my family, the Lake House, The Dark Knight Rises, and my family’s upcoming vacation to the Outer Banks.

During a lull in the conversation, Derrick cleared his throat, “So, I have a question to ask you.”

Suddenly curious & completely oblivious to where he was going with this, I twisted around and answered, “Yeah?”

“Yeah, see, I really like you and really want to continue to get to know you better.”

Cheeks suddenly flushed, I responded, “I like you too! You’re so sweet & wonderful – I want to continue getting to know you too!”

He smiled back, “Awesome, I’m so glad! I mean, I know it’s not easy with the 4-hour drive between us..”

“That’s 6 hours on the train!” I jumped in.

He laughed, “Yeah – gotta love that extra 2 hours it takes to ride the train.” He paused to steer the canoe. “So, that’s a ‘yes’ then?” he asked.

Confused, I asked, “‘Yes’ to what?”

“To being my girlfriend.”

Eyes wide, I twisted back around to look at him again, “What?”

Now he had the confused look on his face, “What did you think I was saying?”

I shrugged, “I don’t know, that you wanted to continue talking & getting to know each other?”

He laughed at me, “You’re so silly – yes! But I want you to be my girlfriend while we’re talking & getting to know each other.”

“Really?”

“Yes, really.”

“Wow!” I laughed & looked down, “I totally didn’t realize what you were saying!” Still slightly oblivious, I had to clarify one more time: “You want me to be your girlfriend?!”

“Yes!”

We laughed & teased each other about it for another moment before Derrick went on, “Okay, but seriously, I do have one more question for you.”

“Okay, what is it this time?”

“Are your family vegetarians?”

I busted out laughing, “No, of course not, silly! Why would you think that?”

“Because we haven’t eaten any meat at all while I’ve been here! We’ve had fish and veggie pizza and pasta – but no meat!”

I laughed, “We’re not vegetarians! That’s just what my Mom had planned for the weekend!”

Looking visibly relieved, Derrick let out a sigh of relief, “Oh good! I was starting to get a little worried!”

..Part 10 coming soon!