serendipity?

graydon and i went to las vegas a couple months ago. we heard that a visit to serendipity 3 in vegas was a must. as we sat down amidst a catastrophic explosion of pink, bright lamps and trinkets, i had a hard time pinpointing the coining of "serendipity". most likely it was the newspaper size menu, the frozen hot chocolate the size of your face and the eccentric decor that was meant to convey the term.

i thought about this because i made gray watch the movie Serendipity with me. and as cheesy as it sounds, i got to thinking about how certain events may lead us to people. but in addition to that, i began to think about how much the things we do and decisions we make truly determine how things work out in our lives. at first, the events seem like distracting objects, never really there for any purpose. but eventually, you realize the distracting object is a huge menu for a superbly delictable cafe, designed to show you that you are capable of choosing just one, out of the dozen of entrees...even after an exhausting search for what you think you wanted initially and then changed because something seemed more suited to your taste...

that doesn't make much sense...but let me try to hatch some sort of explanation:

i like to think back on so many years ago when i only knew graydon as another kid on the roll in English. i always knew him, but never approached him. there was always something about graydon that interested me: whether i was distracted by school or social life, i never felt right about introducing myself to him. i specifically remember seeing graydon for the first time at a mutual friend's birthday party; a crowd of kids lined up for limbo parted for a bit, and revealed a mysterious kid with dark hair and eyes, somewhat reserved but at the same time, animatedly engaged in conversation with a friend. my friend told me his name was braden and i went home that night to find him in the student directory. i never did find a braden taylor.

it took about 2 1/2 years until i officially met graydon. i even had a class with him, i remember him coming in late a couple times, sheepishly sitting down as Ms. Pratt made a remark about his tardiness, and then watched him as he mumbled to his friend. is it strange that i can extract specific memories of him even before i thought about dating him?

i will always remember him auditioning for the talent show. and then watching him perform in the talent show. and then deciding whether or not i should tell him he did a good job or not. i started to get really shy. but one day, i just spilled my heart to him after a slurpee trip and a walk to the park. i couldn't get graydon michael taylor off my mind.

after graydon and i got married, we were rummaging through his old things at his mom's house. we found a box full of his assignments from high school. i pulled out a familiar looking binder, i remember completing a similar one in our English class with Ms. Pratt. we had a poetry unit with varying themes for different sections. race, religion, language, etc. i flipped open the last page and out fell an article i wrote for the school newspaper: "muslims at bingham" i smirked and asked why he had my article tucked in his binder. "i just really liked it." hm. i had to hug him for that.

well...this blog didn't end where i thought it would, but i like to smile and kiss graydon when i think about our beginnings. i did wait for graydon and marry him after 2 years, but i always like to start off before that. i like to think about what i did to deserve meeting someone like him. i truly look to my friends that i knew at the time, and especially my family for encouraging me to be a better version of myself. i also like to think about graydon's family, and i especially think about how they encouraged graydon to be the person that i am so in love with.

serendipity? i don't really know where to fit that in anymore: my macbook says:

serendipity |ˌserənˈdipitē|
noun
the occurrence and development of events by chance in a happy or beneficial way

ha ha. i should watch more chick flicks.