The Making of the Peters Family Band:Love at Third Sight

In honor of our upcoming 10 year anniversary, a trip down memory lane...

Before the talent show. Photo by Dawn Majors.

Meeting #3: April 2001

In the spring of 2001, I drove down to Nashville for yet another Mormon single adult activity - this time a talent show. Because I had signed up to perform, I had to be there early for a sound check, and while I was waiting backstage for my turn, I started chatting with a cute boy (Michael), his brother (Stephan), and his brother's girlfriend (Becky, now Stephan's wife).

It's too bad that we can't recognize at the time which conversations will end up having an impact on our lives so that we can etch them in our memories. As it is, I don't have the tiniest recollection of what Michael and I said to each other that night beyond swapping names, though I have a feeling the conversation went something like this:

Me: "What are you guys performing?"

Michael: "Fake Plastic Trees by Radiohead. What about you?"

Me: "Longer Than by Dan Fogelburg."

Michael: "You play the guitar?"

Guys were always surprised that I played the guitar, and this was the answer I always gave: "Not well. My goal was to learn ten songs, so I have enough for a whole set if I ever want to do a show."

Then maybe I asked Michael how long he'd played guitar, and he told me since high school and that he was in a band. And then I realized that I'd just met my perfect man.

Later that night after the performances were over and the crowd was thinning, Michael made a point of coming up to me on his way out the door. "Nice job," he said. "Maybe I'll see you around."

He did not ask for my phone number.

Before the talent show. Photo by Dawn Majors.

Meeting #4: two or three weeks later

Another weekend, another singles activity. This one was a dance on a riverboat. I drove down with a couple friends, and we were standing around chatting when Michael walked past.

What went through my head: There's that really cute guy from the talent show. I hope he'll come talk to me!

What went through Michael's head: Hey, I know her! She was in my mission! And then without even acknowledging me, he walked up to my friend and began excitedly swapping mission stories.

I stood off to the side wondering if I'd completely misinterpreted Michael's subtle hints that he was interested in me at the talent show. But finally several minutes later, Michael noticed me, and we ended up talking the entire dance. Now, those who know me and Michael, and especially those who knew me back then, might be astounded that we had enough to talk about for that entire two (three?) hours, but that phenomenon can be explained easily enough:

• Michael and I had a surprising amount in common, so we had plenty to talk about.
  
• I've never been good at gracefully exiting a conversation, so even if we did run out of things to say, I was more likely to stand there feeling stupid than to walk away.
  
• Michael doesn't get uncomfortable when nobody is talking. Another reason he was so perfect for me.
  

At that point in my life, I had been on a lot of first dates but not a lot of second or third dates. Some people claimed I was being too picky, waiting around for some dream guy that didn't exist. Driving home from the riverboat dance after Michael had finally asked for my phone number, I felt like calling up each and every one of them and rubbing it in their faces - "Ha, ha. You were wrong! He does exist."

We hadn't even gone on one date yet, but I had already decided that someday, he and I were going to be married. I just had to wait until he figured that out.