Happily Ever After!

John and I 2011

"For to share a life of endless bliss, just find who you love and true love's kiss!" (sung by Giselle in Enchanted).

"Everyone wants to live happily ever after!" That is true Giselle, we all do want to live happily ever after. But is it possible? During the movie Enchanted, Robert played by the divine Patrick Dempsey, wonders this too. He is skeptical of the idea of happily ever after because he trusted and got hurt. And after a journey of discovery and trials, he was able to find it. I think this is a lot like our lives.

When I was 20 I was taking college classes and working at Chick-Fil-A. I remember coming home one day from work, smelling of chicken and feeling  icky. I just got off the bus and walked across the street to my house. I noticed the boy next door working on his motorcycle and he stopped to talk to me. We were chatting about our likes and dislikes and he asked me if I would like to go play pool with him the next day. I was stunned, he quickly added just as friends, so I said yes. You see I had a very bad view of guys. After all my dad had abandoned my family, so I assumed that every guy was like that. I also had very bad self esteem. I had been overweight since I hit puberty, so any attention I got from a guy had to be suspect. Why would anyone really want to love me? In fact in school any guy that paid me true attention were the ones I had crushes on. I never dreamed or crushed on the cutest guys in school like everyone else. But I would dream and write our names in hearts for the guys that were my friends. Guys that saw me as a person not a fat girl. But it was one thing to dream and pretend that we were true loves, it was another thing to live it out. Anytime a guy would actually get close to me and want something more than friendship, I would get so scared! I ran! Everytime! One time I actually dropped my books and ran away after a guy asked me out by my locker, leaving my books and his heart on the floor. I was so ashamed, but my fear was bigger than my pride. I couldn't risk my broken heart to broken more.

John on his motorcycle with my nephew Lucian

So when John asked me on a date I was grinning from ear to ear, but my mind was already thinking how I could get out of it. My sister asked why I was so happy in a smug little voice, and I said "the boy next door asked me out on a date". She said "there is a boy next door?" I felt the same way, we had actually lived at this house for about a year and I had never noticed him before. You see we moved every year sometimes twice a year and I was used to not getting to know the neighbors. I rarely made friends because I was too used to having to leave my friends behind! So when I told my mom about the boy next door she encouraged me to go, after all it was just as friends. So I went and really had a good time. We went to Coach's and I was hoping that he would put his arms around me and "teach me" to play pool. But he was a perfect gentleman! After the date he offered a ride on his motorcycle and I accepted after much debate. But I was shaking like a leaf and I don't know if it was from being on a bike or having my arms around him. We went back to our separate homes without a goodnight kiss though. So I didn't know what to think. We he asked me to hang out with him and some of his friends a couple days later I was even more confused. His friends weren't very friendly. He was a gamer and his friends were all gamers too. I wonder if they had even seen a girl before. They were busy playing games like D&D and World of Warcraft. This was a new world to me, and I felt really out of place. After all I had been taught that D&D was a devil game like ouija boards.

 So the second date was bad and I was ready to stop playing around. I had decided that if he were to ask me out again that I would break it off. I was going away for the summer to work at a girl scout camp in Illinois and that was a week away. So he asked me out to see a movie and we went to see Godzilla. Wow that was so long ago! And during the movie he held my hand. When he dropped me off he tried to kiss me and I turned away. I told him that I was leaving for Illinois in a few days and gave him the address. I told him that I would love for him to write me. I never expected he would.

John's senior picture

I wasn't at camp long before I got my first  letter. He had typed it on his computer. I was shocked! So I wrote back and we continued writing. At first the letters were small talk, but after awhile we started to talk about the deeper things in our lives. Like how we both had been hurt before and that if we were ever to get married it would be for life. I love putting stickers on my letters and I would cover the letters with stickers that matched the topic and sometimes I would sneak in a heart sticker. Then he started adding clip art to his letters  and when he put the first heart on his letter my heart swooned! One magical night after watching Hope Floats with the girls, I got up the nerve to call him. It was really late like 1 o'clock in the morning. He groggily answered and after I made small talk as long as I could, I stumbled out I love you bye! He told me later that he did a double take through the phone. I love you's came easier after that and when I finally got home our first date ended with the most magical kiss. It is history after that.

So is it Happily ever after? Well yes and no! No because every day is not always happy. we have bad days and good days. Great days and horrible days. But life together is happy. I believe that only is a result of our dedication to each other and my dedication to God. He helps us work through the hurt and the pain so we can see the beauty of the life He has given us. One day in heaven there will be a for sure happily ever after but  right now we can enjoy the journey of the love He gives us everyday and the people He has put in our lives. I have found my prince and that is only because of my King!