“me and you” – Our Story  ❤️ 

In a couple of my previous blogs and in some of my future blogs, you will see me reference “me and you.”  Those three words have a special place in my heart and in my life. Long before I was living a Lagom life, I was living a “me and you” life.

Around 2008 Hunter and I found ourselves looking at a different life than we were used to living. Some changes in my personal life found us facing life alone.  We were going to be just the two of us for a while – a mom and her son ready to conquer the world together.

We sold a dream house we had designed and built and eventually found our current small home in Bismarck. It was suppose to be temporary but we are still here nine years later. Throughout all these major life altering events, I wanted Hunter to know that it would always be me and him against the world. If all else failed, I would always be the constant he could depend on. Together – things would be ok for us.

It was about this time that baseball started taking over our lives. More than one team and tournaments had us traveling almost every weekend to various towns playing game after game of baseball. Through baseball we found a new family – a baseball family. We started on what became fours years or nonstop weekends of traveling from March until November. Weekends became weeks and we crossed the country several times. Sometimes just us, sometimes with my family, and sometimes with the newfound baseball family. We did all this traveling in that wonderful white Dodge Caravan of mine.

Also about this time Zac Brown Band’s song “Free” was hitting the airwaves. The song is about a young couple but the meaning of those lyrics hit home. Leave out the one “lovers phrase” and it was perfect. It described the life Hunter and I were living perfectly.  When Hunter heard it on the radio, he knew it was us.  He said it was “our song.”  We even made it a point to see Zac Brown Band in concert.

Here is a link the video of Hunter seeing along.  (The upload won’t work).  The smile on his face in the beginning says it all.

“Free”
[Violin playing]

So we live in our old van
Travel all across this land
Me and you

We’ll end up hand in hand
Somewhere down on the sand
Just me and you

Just as free
Free as we’ll ever be
Just as free
Free as we’ll ever be

We drive until the city lights
Dissolve into a country sky
Just me and you

Lay underneath the harvest moon
Do all the things that lovers do
Just me and you

Just as free
Free as we’ll ever be
Just as free
Free as we’ll ever be
Ever be

No we don’t have a lot of money
No we don’t have a lot of money
No we don’t have a lot of money
All we need is love

We’re free as we’ll ever be
Just as free
Free as we’ll ever be
Ever be

So we live in our old van
Travel all across this land
Me and you

We were traveling across this land in our old van. We didn’t have a lot of money and we felt free. “Just me and you” is who we were at the moment and continue to be.

As we were driving across this land, I began to lay my right hand out and say “me and you.”  Hunter would respond by placing his left hand in top of mine for just a brief moment. I’m not an overly affectionate or emotional person and neither is Hunter but we seemed to have found a gesture that worked for us. From the outside looking in, it was a simple tap of the hand but to the two of us it was our heart in that hand.

This phrase and action evolved for us. When in public or around his friends, I would began to say “me and you” as a code for “I love you.”  And when driving, it became natural to place my hand out with an unspoken understanding that Hunter would give it a light tap. It was our way of reaffirming that together everything would be ok.

We went on like this for years. A sort of secret code between the two of us that only a few close people understood. Anything that was a special moment between the two of us became a “‘me and you” moment. We spent a lot of years as just “me and you.”  Those years were far from perfect if looking in at our lives from the outside. But they have become some of the best years of my life.

For my 40th birthday I planned an evening out with my friends. On my bucket list was to get a tattoo. So I decided that “‘me and you” was the perfect place to start.  I couldn’t think of anything better that to permanently display my thoughts and feelings about Hunter “Jofus” Drake. It’s on the inside of my right wrist so it can be seen as I put my hand out for Hunter.

In the last year I started a small handcrafted business on the side. The only thing I felt like that adequately described what I had to offer – handcrafted gifts just for you – was “me and you.”  It has become a way of life for me beyond just my relationship with Hunter. And now others will reference those special moments as a “me and you” moment.

We don’t travel as much together as we used to because those summers of nonstop baseball are over, and Hunter is driving now. When we are in the car, I still find myself placing that right hand out there and he still taps it. I don’t verbally say it as much as I used to but occasionally find the right moment between us to give him a “me and you.”

We have continued to take a trip each year that fits the “me and you” theme whether it be an overnight  fishing trip or quick day trip to a college baseball game. This summer I offered for him to take a friend along on his fishing trip but he was content with just me. I pray that never changes. That he will always find at least a small amount of time for the two of us.

There we were – Just the two of us traveling all across this great land. We were having “just right” adventures all along but we just didn’t know they were Lagom. The minivan is gone but we are still free.  I imagine 30 years from now I will instinctively lay out that right hand while waiting for a light tap. I pray that when Hunter leaves home and is out adventuring on his own that when he hears “me and you” he will be reminded of just how much I love him. And we both know that no matter what happens, we will be just fine as long as it’s “me and you.”