“Please don’t be a visitor, please don’t be a visitor!” I can’t believe I remember those 11 year old thoughts of mine from the day I saw Brent walk into the chapel at church on a Sunday in the summer. Brent had an awesome tan and bleached hair that apparently was just dreamy to 11 year old me. My first real crush had just begun!
Growing up, my family consistently had families over almost every week for dinner. I remember another instant thought being, “MY family better invite THAT family over for dinner!” The Bullock family had the Sorensen family over for dinner that summer before school started. I don’t recall how much I voiced my opinion on making that happen though! I was excited to find out that not only had Brent’s family moved to Woodinville, but that he was going to be attending Cottage Lake Elementary, the same school as me, for our sixth grade year. Meanwhile, Brent and I hadn’t said a word to each other yet.
I bet you can just imagine how nervous and excited I was when I walked into my school classroom in September and saw my desk with my nametag next to a desk with a nametag that read, “Brent Sorensen.” I’m slightly embarrassed to admit that I can still picture exactly what he was wearing on the first day of school. I don’t even remember what I was wearing!
So, we sat down next to each other and he talked to me! But it didn’t go down quite as I had hoped. We said hi to each other, acknowledged that we attend the same church and then he asked me what the girls name is that always sits next to me in Sunday school. Don’t worry, I played it off casual and cool.
I remember over hearing him at recess bragging to some boys about how he had the same initials as Britney Spears. I was over him, I thought- “Who cares if he thinks the girl I sit next to is cuter than me, because he thinks he’s all that with the same initials as a hot female pop star!” At least I tried to pretend that’s how I felt. (I had to throw that in there to embarrass him! )
As we sat next to each other, we became friends. A couple weeks into the school year, the teacher switched the seating arrangements so we could get to know other classmates. Shortly after, one of my favorite friends told me at recess that Brent wanted me to know that he liked me. He must’ve missed sitting next to me!
Once he knew that I knew, one recess, he had the courage to ask me to be his girlfriend and tell me that he wanted to give me a kiss on the cheek. I told him, “I’m not allowed to have boyfriends until I’m 16” and ran away as he tried to give me a kiss.
Brent thought he was so smart when he asked another girl to be his girlfriend the following week in attempt to make me jealous. When he found out I wasn’t jealous, he broke up with her the next day. Unfortunately, this was at the expense of one of my best friends! She is still a best friend, she was at the proposal and will also be at the wedding.
Oh how the tables turned. I can’t even keep track of the number of times Brent asked me to be his girlfriend that year. Ok fine, I still had a crush on him but I wasn’t allowed nor was I brave enough to have a “boyfriend.” Yes everybody, we’re talking about sixth graders here. I know- it’s hilarious. Atleast, I think so!
In seventh grade, we were on the same bus. You better believe we sat next to each other. He tried to hold my hand. I let him. My mom found out and she didn’t like that at all! The funniest thing about the bus situation is that in the mornings, my stop was the first and Brent’s was the last yet somehow Brent let everybody know that the spot next to me was saved. He had to make that known because I would never tell someone not to sit next to me or to move. Sometimes when he would get on the bus in the morning and someone was sitting next to me, he would give me a look of disappointment.
Our friends knew that we liked each other but that we weren’t official boyfriend and girlfriend because of me. This went on for seventh and eighth grade year. I remember girls telling me that it wasn’t fair because there were lots of girls that would like to be Brent’s girlfriend. One girl once told me, “I had a dream that you moved away, so other girls could have a chance to actually be his real girlfriend.” Brent knew that I wasn’t going to have a boyfriend or have my first kiss until at least 16 years old and he told me he was waiting.
Ninth grade year, it seemed so sudden that we were so different and hardly even friends. Tenth and eleventh grade year brought the same patterns between us. Things completely changed for us. I’ll gladly skip over these years in our story! I remember missing him and his friendship. He moved to Utah for a few months in 11th grade. I remember him calling me and wanting to become friends again. I wanted nothing to do with these phone calls at first. Somehow, eventually we started developing simply a friendship again.
He moved back to Washington just before senior year. He asked me to be his “official” girlfriend. Part of a journal entry of mine from September 4, 2006, “I like Brent Sorensen again! He is awesome. He told me he is waiting for me to kiss him because he doesn’t want me to feel pressure. Well, I finally told him I’m ready for a kiss, but that I can’t make the move! He joked with me and said, “Okay, well maybe I’ll kiss you someday…” Whatever!”
He tried to kiss me a few weeks later- this time I didn’t run away from his attempt! My cousin Lindsi was the first to know about the kiss that lasted a whole millisecond! Then I told my mom & sister right when I got home. That was a fun day!
Senior year was filled with great memories. We graduated in June 2007.
Brent went to Puebla, Mexico the following September to serve a two year mission for our church. Those two years played a big role in shaping Brent into who he is now. I looked forward to his letters each week and was inspired by everything he was a part of there.
We learned the meaning of the phrase “Absence makes the heart grow fonder.” The word "absence" means to be away. To "grow fonder" is to care more. "Absence makes the heart grow fonder" means the time you spend away from someone you love makes you love that person even more.
Since Brent has been back & we have been engaged, we’ve learned that presence makes the heart grow fonder too!
