Our Love Story, Part III

Photo by Elissa Ewald; taken where we had our first date. :)

In October 2014, I was quite contented. I had come to terms with my singleness and was not allowing it to define me. I was blessed to have many amazing friends and a family who love me unconditionally, and I had been working at my dream job for about three months.  Maybe a month prior, I had texted my friend Teresa to tell her that I might lose it if ONE MORE PERSON GOT ENGAGED. But a little while after that, I got myself together, and I recall telling my friend Tanya that I was excited and anxious for my love to come along (hopefully sooner rather than later) but that he would "mess up my flow." (Insert crying laughing emoji here.)  My routine was busy and I had a lot going on, and I liked it like that.

One October day, I was on eHarmony and came across a new profile. The user was twenty eight years old and was in Athens, Georgia! And he seemed normal! Imagine my surprise when I clicked through his profile and found that we had a lot in common. I sent him a "smile" and hoped I might hear back soon. Sure enough, we began talking through the steps of guided communication that eHarmony provides for its users. Even online, I could see that this guy was different, and it seemed as though we clicked (pun intended). I told my mom and a few friends that I was talking to a "normal, nice and cute boy" on eHarmony and hoped that we would meet one day soon.

After about two weeks of talking online, Rory asked if we could take the next step. I flipped the mess out and danced around my room, thrilled that this normal, nice, cute boy man wanted to meet me in person. Being the stalker inquisitive person that I am, I had looked him up on Facebook and saw that he attended my church. He called on a Monday evening and asked if we could go to dinner the next night, to which I gladly agreed. He also confirmed my suspicions- we went to the same church but had never met. How's that for a God thing?

The next day, I was a bundle of nerves. It was a windy and rainy day in Athens, and I went in to school late because there was a severe storm. I remember thinking that if the weather upset my date, I would be devastated. I couldn't eat all day long. (For those of you who know me personally, you know that when I can't eat it means I am either dying or incredibly nervous.) All I could think about was this cute boy and whether or not we would hit it off in person.

I came home from school and tried to calm myself down, praying that the weather would follow suit. I got ready and left in plenty of time (also highly uncharacteristic of me since I am always late.) I drove around downtown Athens, just hoping I could find a parking spot near Ted's Most Best, where we had agreed to meet. When I pulled into my spot, a couple minutes later, Rory pulled up next to me. We both got out of the car and then walked to the restaurant together. Little did I know that my life would be forever changed because of that first meeting.