Three years ago today, I walked into a restaurant, anxiously awaiting my date to arrive. It was my self-proclaimed ‘last ditch effort’ at match.com, after almost two years of on and off online dating, I was ready to throw in the towel and do some soul searching. But there was this guy that caught my eye, as if every single word of his profile was written AT me, and I couldn’t resist, I had to take one more chance.
He walked through those doors and I had nervous anticipation. What if he wasn’t who he said he was. What if he wasn’t what I expected him to be. What if…it was another letdown. But as soon as he got closer, all of that melted away. Because he already *seemed* to be who I thought he *might* be. And when he greeted me, I looked into his eyes and I saw…him. And it felt right, and familiar, in a way, and my anxieties quickly dissapeared. As soon as he guided me to our table, placing his hand gently on my lower back, I melted. The small touch of chivalry…just spoke to me.
And from that day forward, three years in the making, here we sit. That was the beginning of my first (and last ‘first!’) date with M, the man I was meant to meet and marry. It blows me away every time I think about the last three years. Of where we have been together. Of what we have experienced. Of the love that we have cultivated. Of the best friendship that we have built. Of the life we brought together. Of us. Of the home that we now live in…and? The marriage that has united us, forever.
Three years ago, there was no way I would have ever guessed that, fast forwarding to today, my life would be what it is today. Five years ago, I would not have believed, or perhaps trusted, that my life then, broken, alone, heart shattered, would transform into the life that it is now.
It honestly makes me speechless. It gives me chills. And a wave of thankfulness, blessedness and happiness washes over me.
Three years with the man that has made me believe in true and utter love, to the soul love…the love that you see with the catch of an eye, the turn of a smile, the comfort of a hug and the passion of a kiss.
Love that – had I not gone through what I did, had M not gone through what he did – that would never have happened. Love that came together because of what we both went through. And again, that brings us both to the realization, yet again, that we were brought together because we were meant to. Because we trusted, had faith and took a chance.
Truly.
