Talking in the Closet

So now I'm home for several weeks over Christmas, and I still haven't re-met Parker.  Since we have traded phone numbers though, we start to call each other.  The one problem with my parent's amazing house is that the upstairs bedrooms don't have 4 full walls.  It's a solar passive house, so the west-facing side with the skylights only has a half wall.  My sister and I have those half-wall bedrooms.  With an open floor plan on the other two main levels, it makes having a private phone conversation very difficult.  Parker was also hosting his family for Christmas.  So, the only logical time we had to talk was late at night and into the wee hours of the morning, which we did quite frequently.  I became quite the contortionist as I found ways to be comfortable for hours on the floor of my closet, while still plugging in my cell phone under the door.

We also continued to email each other:

12.27.10
Parker,
Thanks again for talking last night.  I must say that I just woke up and I'm still a bit sleepy.  I hope you aren't too tired.  I'm postponing the 20 questions from my family, as I am certain that they will start the second I head downstairs.  I hope your time with your family today is outstanding!
Andrea
P.S.  It's the windiest day EVER in Cut Bank right now.  Good thing we have like over 100 windmills :)

12.28.10
Andrea,
Thank you as well for talking.  It was a great pleasure to begin to know you.  I cannot claim to be fully rested, though I have no regrets.  I can compare the lost sleep with the opportunity cost of our great conversation.  I can always sleep later, but I cannot have the joy of a new friend on my own. 
I am a tad curious about these twenty questions.  What do you mean? 
I look forward to the chance to talk to you again soon.  I do so much enjoy conversations with godly people my own age. 
God bless you my new friend,
parker

I did feel like a ridiculous school girl talking in my closet, but it was also fun, new, and exciting.  Parker is a man of real character.  Different in some ways, but very refreshing.  He loves the Lord and the outdoors, and seems to really enjoy my company.  I’m trying to take it slow and just get to know him, as he is over 1,000 miles away (either in the North Pole) or MN and my brother thinks it’s a definite “no” based on practicality alone.  I’m attempting to keep my mind and my heart open, though several guys have done a number on my self-confidence and trust.  I know I need to have more faith, but at times it just seems like I may not ever get married or have kids of my own.  It’s a scary thought, but one that definitely creeps in.  Right now, I’m just enjoying the fun and intellectual conversation of my new friend.  

First Text Messages

Since it was already Sunday, December 19th and I hadn't recently heard from Parker and if in fact he was going to be in Cut Bank on the 20th/21st, I decided to send him one last email with my phone number in it. At this point, I'm still hoping to meet him in a few days.  While I'm making the 15-hour trek, the texting starts.  It goes a little something like this:

Parker:  How are your travels?  This is parker

Andrea:  Hi.  Good.  Just driving up the 15 hours now.

Parker:  Okay.  Drive safe.

Andrea:  Thanks.  Will do.  Am I still going to get to see you?

Parker:  Unfortunately not.  My project ran late.  Will have to fly home instead of drive through Cut Bank.

Andrea:  Oh.

Parker:  Fiddlesticks.  Sadness abounds.  next you are going to say you never come to mn and that we live too far apart...

Many More Months of Emailing

So Parker and I continue to email back and forth throughout the fall of 2010.  We ask questions of each other and just get to know one another.  It's fairly casual.  We do find out fairly early though that we have very similar core values and beliefs.  Still, at this point, it seems like we are just acquaintances (at least to me, Parker may say something different about his intentions).  At one point, there is even a month and a half lapse in our communication.  The emailing really picks up again in December, as that is when Parker was going to pass through my Montana town.  It turns out that plans for having his brother and mom come visit fell through.  Parker planned on making just a quick pit stop for a day on his way back home to Minnesota on the 20th or 21st.  He wondered if I would by chance be home by then.  Why yes, I'm a teacher and that's exactly the week that my Christmas Break started :)  Finally, I thought, our paths might cross.   God had other plans though.  It wasn't our time...yet.

Parker's Canadian wind farm project ended up running late.  Instead of driving through Montana, he ended up having to fly home the day before Christmas and then return for another few days after the holidays.  It's also about this time that Parker mentions that he passed through Cut Bank this past summer in July and even stopped by my parent's house.  Where were we?  On our ten-day family vacation through the Grand Canyon and other national parks!  Parker ended up knocking on our door and meeting the house-sitter and our our now deceased C-A-T (sorry sister).  And the stories continue.  There were literally half a dozen times that Parker and I missed seeing each other in the course of the past few years.  The 7th missed chance was when I left Cut Bank for Colorado after the holidays on January 1st and Parker ends up driving through on the 3rd!  Seriously!

Parker's First Email to Me

Howdy,

I am not certain we have met before, if we did, it might have been quite brief.  If we have already, my apologies for my poor memory, and it we haven't, then here we are.  It has been a couple years since I lived in Cut Bank, and almost a year since my last visit.  I wondered if you might have some ideas as well (see below).  My brother and I both love the cold weather, but are we fools for dreaming up a trip that time of year?  My family does love the outdoors, and I agree about all the winter fun that can be had with people and say a log fire or some hot cocoa.  As for the people of Cut Bank, they are among my very favorite.  The families and the people I met were amazing, and I am anxious to return and see them again.  So here ends one random email.  If you don't find it too strange, feel free to toss me a few thoughts back.  Your opinions about a winter vacation would be most useful.

Thanks,
Parker

3 Years Later

The next contact Parker and I had came in the form of good ole email several years later.  In the fall of 2010, Parker emailed my family about possible activities to do in Montana around Christmas.  He was planning a trip with his mom and brother as he was on his way back through my rural Montana town from his then current windmill project up in northern British Columbia.  Well, through a turn of events, my parent's computer crashed, mom was busy tiling the bathroom, and when she finally got back to emailing Parker, it was several months later.  In her convenient mom-like way she wrote 

"...these are just a few ideas.  I hope they help.  By the way, my daughter, Andrea, is about your age and she might have some additional ideas.  She will be home for the holidays.  Here is her email...."  

Nothing like having possible ulterior motives :)  It's okay though, I'm used to being set up by everyone...including by the 35 "adoptive mom's" that I work with at school.  As the story unfolds, Mom is just playing a role in the Lord's divine plan.