Meeting my soulmate...

Mine and Oscar's love story has a very interesting beginning. When I was seventeen years old I was living with a friend of mine, Stephanie. I went to visit my mom at her work and while sitting outside a woman approached me and introduced herself as Rosie, my mother's coworker. Rosie began to talk to me about her son and finally went into the building to retrieve a photograph of him. When she was inside I called my mom and said, "Hurry up and get out here, there is a woman out here trying to set me up with her son!" Before she came out, Rosie returned with a photograph of her family and pointed out "Oscar" to me. I told her, "I think I know him..." since we had both gone to Natomas High School and he looked so very familiar to me (I found out later that we did not go to Natomas High School at the same time and there was no way his face could have been "familiar" to me... except God's divine intervention). Rosie offered me his phone number, but I insisted that she give him mine.

I must be honest with you, as I was honest with Rosie on that very day... I had a boyfriend. My mom said, "Just go meet him, please!", so when Oscar called that afternoon and invited me to his house, I told him that I would come. It was so weird and awkward, considering that he had no idea what I looked like and I was essentially set up on a "blind date".

When I arrived at his house, I knocked and he answered the door, along with his little sister, Pricilla. Then his mom and the rest of the family greeted me. I don't remember much about that day, other than the fact that Oscar had this smile on his face when he opened the door that melted my heart and his entire family was so warm and welcoming. One thing I do remember about that day is that Oscar kissed me. I had told him that I had a boyfriend but within 1-2 hours that I had spent with Oscar I knew that I wanted to end the relationship I was in to pursue something with him. He captured my heart and on that very first day, when he called me "Baby" and to this day, more than 10 years later, that is still the pet name we use for each other.

When I left Oscar's house that day I drove to my boyfriend's house and broke it off. "You just met him a couple of hours ago?" "You are going to throw away 3 months of dating for someone you JUST MET!?" ... "Yes, I am", I said. I left his house and called Oscar ... "I broke up with my boyfriend." ... "Really? Come over!", he said. For the second time that day (the same day that I met Oscar), I went to Oscar's house and I can basically say that I really never left. That was September of 2003. Our "offical" anniversary was September 13th, 2003.

Our first "date" was at Chili's on Howe Ave in Sacramento, and his whole family was there...

(from our scrapbook)

Our first Christmas together was wonderful.We had Christmas at Oscar's parent's house and did a gift exchange between family members. I drew Oscar's sister's husband who requested an electric shaver (which I got with my employee discount at Macys, ha!) and I cannot remember who drew me that year. Oscar's parents were so wonderful and included me in everything. His dad got me and Oscar's three sisters perfume from Victoria Secrets and his parents gifted me and his little sister, Pricilla matching track suits...

 (Cilla and I in our matching track suits)

Then, we had Christmas with my family. Before Christmas we had a portrait taken which I sent to my family to basically "announce" my new boyfriend and let them see him before they were to meet him at Christmas for the very first time...

Isn't he handsome!? Well, between the VERY tan construction worker skin and the haircut I can now see why when we arrived at my parent's home and they met Oscar they asked him his nationality and then said "We thought he was African American when we saw the photo." haha. The back of Oscar's neck was SO dark it was literally almost black, but when you pulled the collar of his shirt down, his actual back was VERY light. It was almost amazing the contrast between the skin color, and almost amusing because it was like the head didn't match the body. LOL.
We had family Christmas and Christmas dinner at my Granny Sharon's house. Oscar got me a pair of Seven jeans and my very first digital camera, which was the best gift that I have ever received. It was that camera that started my love of photography and it was that very camera that began to document our lives together.
Here is Oscar and I on Christmas day...       

 (Look at that smile and personality that just shines through this photo. Now you know why I fell in love the day I met him.)