Why Her?

Some people obsess about finding “the one”, others talk about destiny (more on this in another entry); for me, I can do nothing but express how appreciative I am that God allowed our paths to cross… over and over again. Allison and I first met (not sure that we actually met but I knew who she was and I’m certain she knew of me) in eighth grade. At that time, had someone told me that I would one day marry the skinny girl with braces and long curly hair I would have began a ten point argument for why they belonged in an asylum. I say this only because we didn’t seem to have a single thing in common, at least on the surface. Our paths never crossed- we had no classes together or friends in common.

During our freshman year of high school this changed. We landed in an Honors English class together and that class teamed us up with a couple others for a group project. All seemed to be going well until the day of the presentation when I refused to wear her dad’s twenty year old 70’s bell-bottoms and flowered shirt for a reenactment of Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar, hippy style. My logic- we had a substitute that day and the costume would be a waste of my effort. Her logic- who am I kidding? no logic, just plain, old, unadulterated disdain. She hated me for my stubbornness.

Fast-forward two years. We’re both juniors and again find ourselves in the same Honors English class together and, once again, we’re partners for a group project. This time the groups were made up of two. All I can think about is how livid she had been the year before and how I’m now “stuck” with her for the next several weeks. For these several weeks our paths merged and almost became one. We were forced to sit together in class to work on the project. We talked in the halls after class- we had four other classes together too. We exchanged phone numbers so we could coordinate the various tasks that the project required. 

In all this communication a friendship began to form, until, the night before the project was due, we had our last run through of things over the phone and said good-bye. Not more than two minutes went by when I realized that I missed her voice. I called her back and asked her, “What are you doing tonight?” Her response, “Something with you.”

What had started as an improbable relationship developed into impossible before the two of us became inseparable. Before long, I counted her my best friend and it was clear at that point that I could not let her get away. Come to find out we had so much more in common than we had ever imagined and thank God, He allowed our paths to cross… again and again. In July of 2000 I chose her to be my wife and I continue to choose her every day. What God knew would be the perfect gift for me, a partner to stand by my side and journey through life with, took this dumb bloke almost four years to realize.

The English project- we aced it… and many, many other tasks that we’ve teamed on over the past 15 years.