I felt pretty comfortable with Jenn quickly enough - we had about two months worth of conversations in and after class before we started dating, so the friendly repoire was already there. In life, Jenn always had a flair for life - a certain spirit that just set me at ease to the core. It's difficult to describe, but I think it's one of those things that when the right things happen, or you meet the right people (friends or lovers), you just know that sense of peace with that person.
Philosophy aside, the moment that I first really flet "the click" was after one of our conversations after class. We had walked over to the music school, and I was talking with her about some project I was considering (for all I know, it may have been about a theatre idea, or ROTC or something)... Ultimately, it boiled down that she told me to just go ahead with what I was thinking about doing. (I later found out that she was running late for a rehearsal that day...) After I left her - her walking into the music building, and me walking towards the hill and my dorm - smiling and shaking my head and thinking "Wow."
Fast forward a couple of months from the first date, to early June (I think... maybe late May 1999). I was comfortable enough with her that near the end of one of our dates, "I love you," came out, and responded in kind... but she later told me that it wasn't until I was in Colorado that summer (at the US Air Force Academy for Combat Survival Training - for three weeks in July) that she finally had her "click" moment.
Thursday, May 24, 2007
Wednesday, May 23, 2007
Meeting...
Jenn and I first met in the spring of 1999. It was her second semester at college, and I only had a year and a half left. We were both in the same Theatre class - Creative Dramatics (or, Theatre for Children).
I was taking the class based on the recommendation of a friend in the Theatre program (as I was minoring in Theatre by this point), she was taking it, having just had the instructor for an Introduction to Theatre course the previous semester.
Like most guys tend to do, I was checking out the class dynamics - about five or six guys in a class of about twenty - and the "scenery". Jenn was one of about three that I took a quick interest in (the usual, "Hmmm, they're cute" thoughts on the first days of classes).
The joke from my Theatre friend, Bill F., was that the class was "get an A to Play" - basically play theatre games for an hour, three days a week, with the fundamental idea being primed to teach children theatre skills and games. A lot of the class time was spent talking about different interactions and methods to get and keep the audience involved. One of the first class activities was to have everyone draw a picture, later used when the teacher read a story to the class. The catch is that members of the class would act out the story.
That story was about an older woman, living with her cat, that had a thing for art - to the point where she eventually opened up her house as a miniature museum. Jenn played the old lady, complete with a feather boa as part of her "costume"... I was the cat. Like cats will do with string, I did with the boa - batted at it as it hung there, gently flapping and swaying as she moved. She wrapped it so that less of it was hanging... I continued to bat at it. She turned as if she was going to pop me, and I started purring and rubbing my shoulder against her calf.
As the next couple of months went on, wWe would often end up talking after class, as I would walk her over to the music building - or at least towards it. By this point I knew her first name, but wasn't sure of the last, and I found myself listening to the roll call to find out.
One week she happened to miss a couple of classes, and I looked up her number and called to check on her... I got her voice mail for her room, but let her know that I was checking in since she had missed class, and let her know what assignment we were supposed to be working on for one of the next classes.
About a week or so later, on one of the walks after class, I asked her out. At the time, she worked for the local movie theater, and one of her side perks (which I didn't realize) was that she could get in free to "non-premium" viewings, and the exchange went a little something like this:
Me: So, do you go to the movies much when you're not working?
Jenn: It depends on what's playing. (sounding a bit annoyed) What movie did you want to go see?
Me: Um, I wanted to take you out.
Jenn: You know I can get in free since I work there?
Me: Actually, I didn't... and that's not really my point. I want to take you out, and I thought a movie would be pretty easy thing to do. I'm not looking to get in free.
Jenn stopped, actually as little surprised at that, and she seemd to lighten up a little. We talked about it a little more as we finished walking to the music building, and decided we would go see this cool looking new movie, The Matrix. The night? April 1, 1999.
I was taking the class based on the recommendation of a friend in the Theatre program (as I was minoring in Theatre by this point), she was taking it, having just had the instructor for an Introduction to Theatre course the previous semester.
Like most guys tend to do, I was checking out the class dynamics - about five or six guys in a class of about twenty - and the "scenery". Jenn was one of about three that I took a quick interest in (the usual, "Hmmm, they're cute" thoughts on the first days of classes).
The joke from my Theatre friend, Bill F., was that the class was "get an A to Play" - basically play theatre games for an hour, three days a week, with the fundamental idea being primed to teach children theatre skills and games. A lot of the class time was spent talking about different interactions and methods to get and keep the audience involved. One of the first class activities was to have everyone draw a picture, later used when the teacher read a story to the class. The catch is that members of the class would act out the story.
That story was about an older woman, living with her cat, that had a thing for art - to the point where she eventually opened up her house as a miniature museum. Jenn played the old lady, complete with a feather boa as part of her "costume"... I was the cat. Like cats will do with string, I did with the boa - batted at it as it hung there, gently flapping and swaying as she moved. She wrapped it so that less of it was hanging... I continued to bat at it. She turned as if she was going to pop me, and I started purring and rubbing my shoulder against her calf.
As the next couple of months went on, wWe would often end up talking after class, as I would walk her over to the music building - or at least towards it. By this point I knew her first name, but wasn't sure of the last, and I found myself listening to the roll call to find out.
One week she happened to miss a couple of classes, and I looked up her number and called to check on her... I got her voice mail for her room, but let her know that I was checking in since she had missed class, and let her know what assignment we were supposed to be working on for one of the next classes.
About a week or so later, on one of the walks after class, I asked her out. At the time, she worked for the local movie theater, and one of her side perks (which I didn't realize) was that she could get in free to "non-premium" viewings, and the exchange went a little something like this:
Me: So, do you go to the movies much when you're not working?
Jenn: It depends on what's playing. (sounding a bit annoyed) What movie did you want to go see?
Me: Um, I wanted to take you out.
Jenn: You know I can get in free since I work there?
Me: Actually, I didn't... and that's not really my point. I want to take you out, and I thought a movie would be pretty easy thing to do. I'm not looking to get in free.
Jenn stopped, actually as little surprised at that, and she seemd to lighten up a little. We talked about it a little more as we finished walking to the music building, and decided we would go see this cool looking new movie, The Matrix. The night? April 1, 1999.
Monday, March 26, 2007
Posting Guidelines
Welcome to "The Jennifer Project"... a memorial site for Jennifer Ragland Evans. The premise is simple - if you knew Jenn, and would like to share your memories or stories with everyone else (or, just to be able to go back to read them in the future, should details get a little fuzzy over time) - then this is going to be the place for you to do so...
Here's how it's going to work: Post your thoughts, memories or stories of Jennifer as a comment to me, and I will add them as a new post. What I ask, though, is that you leave an email address or means to contact in the event that there are any questions (Hey, I'm an English Major... I'm going to, by instinct, try to proof everything before I post it...)
Also, I ask that you provide your name, and a reference point for the story/memory... That way I can apply appropriate labels for each post...
Also, if you have pictures that you would like to share, let me know that as well so we can coordinate those items, as well...
Thank you...
Here's how it's going to work: Post your thoughts, memories or stories of Jennifer as a comment to me, and I will add them as a new post. What I ask, though, is that you leave an email address or means to contact in the event that there are any questions (Hey, I'm an English Major... I'm going to, by instinct, try to proof everything before I post it...)
Also, I ask that you provide your name, and a reference point for the story/memory... That way I can apply appropriate labels for each post...
Also, if you have pictures that you would like to share, let me know that as well so we can coordinate those items, as well...
Thank you...
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