“Once in a while, right in the middle of an ordinary life, love gives us a fairytale.” This is how we began. We were both living our ordinary lives and then, boom. Fate stepped in and magic happened. Dramatic, I know, but once I tell you the story of how Kevin and I met, you’ll understand and you’ll agree… just wait…
It was June 17th, 1999. I was having a sleepover at my friend, Kristi’s house. After doing all the things we could think of to do, we did what most kids at that age did back then; we started prank-calling people. (Shame, shame, I know). We kept quiet and didn’t say anything during most of the calls. I was very shy and quiet and didn’t talk much, especially to people I didn’t know.
But then, Kristi dialed a random number and tossed the phone to me and said (in a very 12 year old way), “You have to marry whoever answers!”
I was shocked and just hoped that whoever answered wasn’t a girl. To my surprise, a very nice and sweet guy answered the phone. Now what? I panicked and didn’t know what to do, so I just talked to him like I knew him!
I asked him how he was doing and what he was doing and I tried to keep the conversation going. He finally asked who I was. I couldn’t help but tease him longer. I acted shocked and even a little mad that he didn’t know who I was. After some back and forth, we dropped it and just went on and talked about other things…
Eventually, we circled back to who I was and how I got his number…
Without even thinking about it, the name “David” popped out of my mouth. I told him that David gave me his number.
*Side note: at the time, I knew NO ONE by the name of David…. But…. that just so happened to be the name of one of his good friends. Score!
With that said, he became a little more at ease with who I was and how I got his number. We talked and talked… we talked about everything… he made me laugh so much that my cheeks hurt.
I don’t remember everything we talked about that night, but I do know that by the time we got off the phone, 4 hours had passed and Kristi was knocked out asleep.
I couldn’t sleep… My head was spinning and my heart was soaring. I had butterflies in my stomach and I was in disbelief. I wanted more. I wanted to hear his voice again. I wanted to laugh again.
And I did. The next day. We talked again. And again the next day. And the day after that. We talked on the phone almost every day for just about 3 years.
Countless hours of conversations. We talked about everything. Our hopes, our dreams. Our fears and experiences. What we wanted in life. What we liked, what we hated. What hurt us and what made us happy. We joked and laughed… oh, how we laughed…
We hadn’t seen each other in person yet. No picture. Nothing.
Just a cute voice on the other line.. Someone who listened to me vent about my day. Someone who made me laugh like crazy. Someone who shared pieces of himself with me that he had shared with no one. Someone who could see my soul, without even seeing my face.
I decided I needed to tell him something. Something big. Something I felt since the very first day I heard his voice.
I needed to tell him that I loved him.
On June 16th, 2002, we sat on the phone for nearly an hour, while I tried to work up the courage to say those three little words. I literally couldn’t say it. It felt like an elephant was sitting on my chest.
What if he didn’t feel the same? What if I was just a friend to him? What if this put a stop to everything we had?
I didn’t want to give up the friendship we had built over the past 3 years. I didn’t want to give up our conversations. I didn’t want to give up our connection. But I wanted more.
I had to tell him.
I literally almost threw up, trying to get the words out. After countless attempts, I finally spit out the words and waited for what seemed like forever for a response. (It was actually like 3 seconds).
He said nothing, so I quickly hung up. I couldn’t believe it. I stared at the phone and just as the tears started to stream down my face, the phone rang.
It was him.
He asked why I hung up.
I asked why he didn’t say anything.
He said I didn’t give him a chance.
I said I gave him long enough.
He said he loved me.
I fell into a ball on the floor and cried my eyes out.
He loves me. I love him and he loves me.
We met the next day in person for the first time ever. It had been 3 years, to the date, since we had first met on the phone. I was sick to my stomach and couldn’t believe it was actually happening… but it was… and it was perfect.
Short and sweet. We looked at each other. We hugged. He teased me. I blushed. We laughed.
As we were saying bye, I looked up at him and gave him a kiss. Our first kiss. I walked away and went inside and came running back out for another kiss. Our second kiss. Pure bliss.
Over the next few years, we experienced a lot together, including him joining the Navy, us getting engaged and then getting married.
Kevin is my best friend. He amazes and inspires me everyday. He’s my rock and safe haven. He’s literally my grounding force. He is home to me. He knows me, all of me, and loves me. He understands me like no other. We are partners.. in our household, in our businesses, in parenthood, in life. In everything.
As cliché as it sounds, we complete each other. We have been so lucky to have met and fallen in love so young, that we got to grow up together, and now we will grow old together too.
