Adam & Andrea Graham – Real Life Romance & Interview – Part 2 of 2

Shannon here: Speculative fiction authors, Adam & Andrea Graham share the rest of their first meeting, plus their romantic interview. Every time you comment, your name goes in the drawing for a copy of romantic mystery anthology, Cherry Blossom Capers, which includes Cara Putman who will be here Friday. Deadline: Jan 14th, 11:59 pm central time. Here’s Adam & Andrea:

We spent most of my Columbus trip this way.
On Friday, I had trouble breathing. I, Andrea, and her mom all assumed I was dehydrated, but drinking three quarts of water only made my “dehydration” worse. In reality, the Ohio humidity had taken a toll on me. I became very scared and so did Andrea. In my mind, I can still see her kneeling beside me as I lie upon the couch. She was praying for me with tears in her eyes, afraid I was going to die. I saw real, true love in her eyes as she was praying.
I called home and my dad informed us that I was hyperventilating and needed a paper bag to breathe into. We had none, so Andrea constructed a paper bag from that morning’s newspaper.
Large blocks of time of the trip are a blur of Andrea and I sitting on her parents’ couch and looking into each other’ s eyes, almost kissing on the lips and then pulling away at the last minute in an excruciating dance.
Saturday, Andrea and I went down to the library. There, I lifted her up in my arms, carrying her full weight for one special moment. From there, we walked down to Dominoes and ordered a pizza (half hamburger and half pepperoni). We sat outdoors and had our own little private picnic.
Andrea was everything I could have imagined and more. When she’d shake her head just the right way, her hair would dance and it was so cute. Her heart and mind were exactly what I’d come to know and love on the Internet. Was Andrea the one? That was the question that filled my mind.
Sunday, we went to Obetz Pentecostal Church of God with a friend of my pastor’s, Reverend Paul Hatfield. At this church, we met Don Walee. A blind man, Walee plays thirteen different instruments and delivers anointed messages. Brother Walee said he was going to give me $20 after the service to take Andrea out to eat. I thought within myself, “I wonder if he’ll actually do it or if he’ll forget.” After the next song, Brother Walee handed the money to Pastor Hatfield and told him to give it to me.
After Brother Walee’s sermon, he held an altar call and both Andrea and I went to the altar. While on my knees, I saw a vision of her in my head and a voice telling me she was the one. Andrea remained at the altar for a good fifteen minutes while the pastor and his wife both prayed for her. Afterwards, the pastor took us out to eat at a favorite Mexican restaurant.
Despite my vision, I was still reluctant to propose. Andrea was utterly confused at this: if I thought she was the one, why didn’t I just propose to her? What she didn’t understand was God had the proposal scheduled way ahead of my time table for that. In addition, my pastor had warned me that I might come home engaged and I didn’t want anyone to say, “I told you so.” This led to a fight in which she asked me to make up my mind.
On Monday Afternoon, I decided to use Brother Walee’s money to take Andrea to The Olive Garden. My heart was filled with one thought, “Should I propose?” At each stop in our walk and on the bus I considered it. At the Olive Garden, the idea occurred to me at least two dozen times. After dinner, Andrea went to the bathroom and I prayed for the millionth time about it. It was time.
We left the Olive Garden and I knew I was taking my last steps as an uncommitted man. At the bus stop, I crouched to my knees (I didn’t want to ruin my dress pants) and asked Andrea to marry me. She said yes. We got her mother’s blessing that night but I was nervous to talk to her dad and made an excuse not to.
Tuesday was my last day in Columbus and we spent that morning in tears. We cried and held each other in the terminal until the last possible minute. Crazy ideas ran through my head like Andrea buying a standby ticket at the last minute. Or staying in Columbus on the $140 in travelers checks I had left. It just couldn’t be.
I went to the gate and I let go of my Andrea. I left her at the gate in tears as I ran to the plane, for fear of turning back. Even on the plane, the idea of getting off and going back occurred to me. Unfortunately, life isn’t a romance movie and I sat still in the plane as it took off, leaving my Love behind.
Now it’s Andrea’s turn to answer some interview questions:

• What’s the most romantic thing your spouse has ever done for you?

When we lived in Kalispell, Montana, Adam blindfolded me and drove me a 120 miles simply to take me to dinner at the closest location of a restaurant I favored.

•  Where is the most romantic place you and your spouse have ever been?

Cancun, Mexico is a close second to Glacier National park and the state and city parks in Kalispell, Montana that we frequented when we were first married.

•  Do you and your spouse have a favorite romantic restaurant?

The Olive Garden. He proposed to me after a lovely meal there.

•  Do you and your spouse have a favorite song? 

The Time of My Life by Mark Shultz is our song.

•  How soon after meeting your spouse did you know he/she was the one?

We hit it right off, but both of us were shy and timid in the romance department. I was down right afraid and in denial quite a while, trying to keep things to friends only, doubly so since he lived pretty far away and when I got seriously involved with someone, I planned to be playing for keeps. I believe I admitted my feelings were romantic to myself and to him sometime after he confessed his.

• How soon after meeting you did your spouse know you were the one?

Adam first emailed me on October 1, 2000. In March, he started writing poetry expressing his feelings (and doubts and fears) confessed this and of course I had to read it and that totally did me in. We remained officially “just friends” until about a week before he proposed.

•  Who said, “I love you” first, you or your spouse?

Probably Adam, by accident. He’d decided to save that until after he popped the question. Being in love, we naturally found creative ways to say it indirectly. I didn’t count using the heart emoticon, for instance.

• Where did you and your spouse go for your honeymoon?

This lovely white lodge in the middle of a gorgeous national forest in Montana.
About Adam & Andrea: Mild-Mannered Goofball and Recovering Journalist Adam Graham is a strange visitor to this Earth whose ancestors hailed from Scotland and Ireland. With his amazing powers of wit and poignancy, he writes science fiction stories appearing in Residential Aliens, Light at the Edge of Darkness, and in the Laser & Sword e-zine, yet also a political column appearing on Pajamasmedia.com. With his astonishing ability to pack twenty six hours into twenty four, he also hosts the Truth and Hope Report podcast, the Old Time Dragnet Radio Show, the Great Detectives of Old Time Radio, and of course the Old Time Superman Radio Show. Our hero does all this with the help of a Journalism Associates degree from Flathead Valley Community College and his auburn-haired leading lady, Andrea.
High-Spirited, but serious-minded, Leading Lady Andrea Graham studied creative writing and religion at Ashland University, has been envisioning fantastic worlds since at least six, and has been writing science fiction novels since she was fourteen.  She edited Adam Graham’s first novel, Tales of the Dim Knight as well as his short story “Chosen of God,” which was featured in Light at the Edge of Darkness along side her own “Frozen Generation.” She offers a regular devotion, book reviews, and advice on her blog, For Christ’s Glory, I Dream, and freelance edits at povbootcamp.com. Andrea and Adam live with their cat,  Joybell, in Boise, Idaho.
About the book: Cherry Blossom Capers (features Cara Putman – my guest on Jan. 6th)
The lives of four neighbors are irrevocably changed amid mystery and romance. Assistant chef Tara Whitley is seeking a state dinner saboteur. Attorney Ciara Turner is tracking down a murderer. Budding archeologist Samantha Steele encounters a forger. Shop owner Susan Holland is someone’s target. Will God protect them in life and love?
Come back Jan 6th for Cara Putman.