Warren Wilson College, Schafer porch. Fall 2001.
Ginelle's Version:
One fine fall evening (probably at 1 or 2 am, so maybe I should say morning) during my sophomore year at Warren Wilson, I was walking back to my room in Schafer B. I decided to go the long way around Schafer's porch, since interesting things always seemed to be happening there (sidenote- the most notable occurrence was a burning couch that was thrown from the roof). I noticed this guy sitting on a bench on the Schafer C porch. I said hello, and so Adam and I met. Somehow we started talking about music, and Adam mentioned that he played banjo. Of course, the conversation moved into talking about old-time music and I embararassingly said I did not know any old-time songs. Well, Adam would not have that. Neither would I really, so, well, he decided to teach me Doc Watson's version of "Shady Grove."
We hung out a little bit on and off over the next year. My work crew the fall of my junior year was the Sage Cafe crew, which is a campus coffee shop. Not surprisingly, I started to see Adam more often (he loves coffee). I realized how much I really liked him as we spent time hanging out in Sage Cafe. However, I still felt pretty darn shy about telling him (I am omitting that I already told him once since I am not actually that shy). One Friday night, I was working at Sage Cafe and Adam came to visit. We had a really great conversation, and when he left I confessed my feelings to my dear friend, Ellia. Well, I would say Ellia is definitely a bit intuitive and also a great friend. So, Ellia actually refused to hang out with me that night as planned until I went to spend time with Adam. I have to say that was a pretty good choice because, well, as they say, the rest is history.
Adam's Version (notice the difference in the 1st paragraph- evidence that we have been dating for 8 years):
Ginelle was sitting on the Shafer C porch one evening during my freshman year at Warren Wilson College. I was on my way back to Sunderland ("Slumberland," anyone?), where I lived, but I stopped to say hello and got to talking with Ginelle.
I'm not sure how, but somehow we started talking about music and I asked Ginelle to teach me a song. She couldn't think of one to teach me, so I decided to teach her Shady Grove, which seemed to me like a classic that most everyone should know a version of.
So we sat there singing the first few verses and passing the time. We became friends and would spend time together for that first year, but it wasn't until the fall of my Sophomore year that we became official. We didn't really have a specific day that we started dating, and it was only about a year later that we decided that we needed to pick a day for our anniversary. We started dating in mid-October, and we liked the number 19, so the 19th it was.
How did I know that Ginelle and I were meant to be together? Picture this: Halloween at Warren Wilson. I had borrowed a long coat with broad lapels and big wooden buttons from my friend Molly; I was wearing a ridiculous hat and the largest leather boots I could find. Ginelle was spinning fire poi, which she is amazingly talented at doing, and somehow I cajoled her into letting me try.
Costumes and fire: a recipe for love if ever there was one.
