Alphabetical seating= Winquist and Williams

Eric and Mark at our wedding....Eric is the blond boy in the striped shirt and Mark has an AWESOME look on his face......
For the purpose of this particular blog, I need to take you back to a long time ago at Heritage Middle School on the first day of 8th grade. I entered a classroom for a class having something to do with "Life Skills." Around 10 years later I remember only two things from that class:

1.) We had an assignment that attempted to teach us how to keep a checkbook ledger, and I did a very poor job on it.......I was crushed when I got a bad grade

More importantly is point 2-----
2.) The seating chart for this class was based on alphabetical order by last name.....my maiden name being Winquist and to my right was a new boy named.......ERIC WILLIAMS

At this point I just remember trying to make some random conversation. I think I was probably trying to work the kinks out of my newfound love of flirting, and this boy did not receive it well. I think to try to pinpoint my thoughts about him at that time I would have thought "hmmmmm.....he is kind of awkward to talk to......." Also, at some point I was talking to him and he told me, "I'm going to Iceland." Huh? I think that I thought he was even worse at flirting than me. I was surprised when I arrived at school a few days later to find him missing.....yes, he actually had gone to Iceland......and to make matters worse he didn't even fall for my girlish charms. So this is what I remember about him from a LONG time ago.

I remember him from high school, just as a funny aquaintance and someone who was fun to talk to. In all honesty had our story ended there in May of 2004 I may have not thought much about him ever again.....perhaps when I found facebook 4 years later our paths may have crossed again, but I am quite glad to inform that this is not how the story ends.

Eric also came with Nate and myself to Manchester College. We really didn't know many people at all who were at Manchester, so we became friends. He lived in the same dorm I started out in and we used to have lunch together sometimes. Also, his funny cousin from Missouri was his roommate and the awesome Mark Moon became our friend. Mark went on to date and marry Wendi, thus cementing our lifelong friendship (hopefully!)

We got to know a lot of the extended Williams/Moon family and love them all. Also worth noting is the fact that Eric moved to the north side of Indianapolis around the same time we moved to the south side. Sometimes the world is small and Eric actually works with my friend Robyn's husband.

Yesterday downtown Indy for the race, Eric was kind enough to meet me and Hansy to provide some company and hang out a bit. Eric is such a funny guy!

So Eric, thanks for the conversation and laughs.....thanks for listening to the crazy! We are glad to have you for a friend......and one of our longest-lasting ones! And that is saying a lot cause Nate and I are picky people..........even more importantly, Hansy likes you, so we shall keep you around!