True Love Can Be Real

Yep, that's me, sitting on a gator.  Trust me when I tell you that is not the impressive part.  The impressive part is how we got here.  

I have had this long standing belief that love with the right person can be amazing.  It can be inspirational, a beacon of hope to others searching for their true love.  The problem is the actual search for many of us.  It sometimes leads us down paths of insecurity and makes us doubt that we will never find the right person, and in today's dating world that can be extremely frustrating and disheartening.  

Have you ever had an example of a relationship in your life that you used as your standard for for your future relationships?  A benchmark for your expectations of happiness and how you thought a relationship should go? I have seen a few examples that I wanted to model mine after.  From how the couple laughed, communicated, kissed each other every day, or sat together for hours at the dinner table being present in each other's lives.  I have taken bits and pieces of relationships that I admired and used them to mold my idea of what I wanted.  However, that proved to be a little troublesome in relationships for me, because the relationship I was in always seem to fall short of those expectations I had set for myself.  I let myself down, and instead of pushing for better, I accepted what was in front of me and didn't fight for my happiness.  Then after several years of losing myself I gave up.  I gave up on me and just existed.  Going to work, hanging with my son, and "adulting," was about all I had time for.  

I needed a change.  I was tired of taking a back seat and letting my life pass by in front of me so I began to work on myself slowly.  I began to work on my emotions and accepting the person I was, and striving to be the person I always wanted to be.  This led me to the most important change of my life in recent years.  I took a chance.  I took a chance on a woman that would coincidentally "check" every box I had and every box I didn't have, and she would crush the mold of anything I thought I needed or wanted in a relationship.  She would make me feel, with the deepest emotion, the incredible love that we have everyday.   

Last October, I decided I would scroll through a few dating apps to "see what was out there."  I was hoping I would come across someone interesting, looking for the same things I was, and maybe a relationship would blossom.  I found Emily on a popular site, and I actually knew of her.  I didn't know who she was completely, just the name and face.  I avoided liking her profile or messaging her because I was really trying to stay out of my hometown.  Each day for a few days, her profile kept coming to the top of my list, and I finally thought, "What the hell," and I sent her a digital rose through the app.  She responded and that turned into several late nights of texting between each other.  I can't describe the chemistry that showed so early on but the feelings that started to form were intense.  She was what I needed.  As we continued to text over the next few days, she began to give me the signs that she was truly interested.  I was working midnights at the time and she wouldn't want to stop texting me, even after she fell asleep with her phone in her hand.  Eventually she would stir, only to wake up and attempt to continue the conversation, while falling back asleep.  This was so adorable and endearing.  Those texts turned to facetime, then a date at Applebee's because another restaurant we attempted to meet at was closed.  

I feel like fate put her in front of me at the right time, but the choice to message her was my destiny.  The title of this article, "I took a chance," is true and how the beginning of our communication started, but she also made a choice to accept me.  She took a chance and opened her heart to me; she bet on us.  She gave me her all and without hesitation.  And even though I told her that I loved her first, I knew how much I meant to her, and I knew the feelings were reciprocated.   

Since then we have been inseparable.  Our relationship has proven to me that true love can be found.  You can be appreciated, loved, and desired.  You can have a happy relationship, work through problems together, communicate about your needs, and be a team.  You can be an example to your kids of what love can be.  I am so very thankful for what we have.