Destination wedding

It all began over a decade ago on a hot summer day. My younger sister, Caroline, had invited a friend over to hangout at our house in South St. Paul. Previously, she had many friends come and go throughout the years that I simply had no interest in as they were "my little sister's friends". However, the friend she chose to hangout with that day was special. It was Jenna Rae, a teammate that my sister had played Hastings traveling soccer with for many seasons. With nothing on the agenda, I decided to spend my day hanging out with them. I was quickly impressed with how Jenna carried herself as a young woman. She wasn't afraid of talking to me like my sister's other friends who were always shy and giggly. Soon enough, I was jumping on the trampoline for hours with Jenna, leaping from one subject to the next in fluid conversation. She wasn't a bit nervous or awkward. My dad asked if we wanted to go swimming at Lake Calhoun. We talked and tanned on the beach before Caroline, Jenna, and I went on a walk around the lake. Being the cocky high schooler I was, I walked shirtless with my cell number written in sharpie across my chest. I joked with the girls, "lets see how many calls I get". I received no calls or texts, but in the time we walked around the lake Jenna had memorized all 10 digits. Eight years later, Caroline drags me out on the town for a night of bar hopping. I reluctantly accepted. At one bar, my eyes were immediately drawn to a dark haired woman with glasses like a librarian. A thought entered my consciousness, "now she would make a beautiful wife". Standing alone by the bar, glowing in the midst of the crowd. We made eye contact and my heart skipped a beat. She approached me. "Do you remember me?", she asked. "I do", I said. Jenna smirked, "yeah what's my name?". My brain searched frantically to put a name to this pretty face. I responded, "Jenna, right?". She gave a big smile, and memories flooded back to me about that hot summer day when we first met.