A long time ago, I used to know this boy. He lived in a small town outside of Houston. He lived on a ranch. His family bred and showed horses. (But you weren’t allowed to call him a cowboy. He hated that!) He never lacked for a date. He was kind, giving and respectful of the girls he dated. And did he ever have charisma. He was a great kid.
One weekend he was invited to a friend’s graduation party. The boy really didn’t want to go, but his friends insisted he go with them. The party was just dragging along until she got there with her friends.
She was a girl I used to know. She lived just outside of Houston too, but an hour away from the boy. She wasn’t a big dater. She went more from “relationship to relationship” (as much as a kid in high school could do). She was always told that her laughter drew people to her. She had many friends, most of them guys. She just loved having fun. Most weekends had her out with a group of friends.
That weekend, though, she was just in a bad mood. She wasn’t going to go to the party either. It was a long drive and she was mad at the guest of honor. (She had caught her in a lie and was holding a grudge.) Again, friends prevailed and they got her to go to the party.
That is where the boy met the girl. They began to talk. She wasn’t really his type, yet, somehow, she was everything he didn’t know that he really wanted. I don’t know if you believe in love at first sight, but these two kids sure did. (He was 17. She was 16.) There was no way that they had actually met their “forever” person. Their future spouse? This young? It doesn’t happen. Does it?
Everyone discouraged her from getting into a long distance relationship …especially while she was in high school. She didn’t listen. She was in love! People said it would never last. It couldn’t. They were too young.
But they knew. They. Just. Knew.
A year and a half later, that boy got down on one knee and proposed to that girl. She was overwhelmed with love and started to cry as he took her hand in his. She knew her life was about to change. She knew that her dream was coming true. That boy asked that girl if she would marry him. Through her tears, she said YES!
That was 15 years ago today.
And I have never once regretting saying yes to that boy. Never once.
That boy became the man that is the love of my life. And today, I just wanted to celebrate. And to say thank you… to that boy and that girl of so many years ago for believing in love at first sight.
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