I love hearing how people met and fell in love. Each couple’s story is so unique. May I share mine with you?
At the time, I had no idea what was wrong with me. All I knew was that the world scared me and I had pretty close to zero self-confidence (it was only years later that I found out I was suffering from severe agoraphobia). You need confidence to date and I had none. If I found out someone was interested in me, I would avoid him until he lost interest. I remember talking to God one miserable day and telling him (rather snottily) that if he wanted me to get married he would just have to bring someone to my door.
Funny enough….that’s exactly what he did!
I went to my brother’s apartment complex one day and as we stood in the courtyard and chatted the top of someone’s head peeked over a second story balcony. My brother quickly introduced us. I didn’t get a good view of the person and quickly forgot the encounter.
A few days later, my brother called and asked me if I wanted to go boating. This was a normal occurrence since my brother had a boat and the two of us used it quite often. When I said that I would love to go, my brother turned from the phone and said, “Yeah, Jerry, she’ll go.” My heart fell to the ground and all I could utter was a dumbfounded: “What?” My brother laughed and said, “Remember that guy you met the other day? He wants to take you boating, bye!” And, with that, he hung up. I had no last name, no phone number… no way to cancel.
The days leading up to my date had me reeling with fear. I was sick with it. I couldn’t eat. I couldn’t sleep. Who was this guy? How was I going to talk to him? How could I impress anyone when I thought so little of myself? By the time the day arrived I was a mess. I was rather hoping there would be something seriously wrong with him so I’d have an excuse to never see him again.
Instead, I opened the door to the most beautiful man I had ever seen. I immediately thought, “I have nothing to say to someone this gorgeous.” I was so shy on that first date that I only spoke a few words the entire day. I remember wanting to yell, “I really am a lot of fun once you get to know me!” But, I couldn’t speak (I asked Jerry years later why he ever called me for a second date and he said, “I was intrigued”).
Jerry was persistent and kept calling and kept asking me out. We were married almost exactly a year later and now he can’t shut me up! Of course, there’s a lot more to our story. As beautiful as our love story is, agoraphobia isn’t magically cured by the kiss of a prince, unfortunately! (But, That is a side of our story for another day.)
My heart still jumps whenever I catch sight of Jerry. But now, it’s not with fear. It’s with love and joy and more than a little thankfulness. For God looked down upon a lonely girl who felt ugly and useless, and was too afraid to venture out into the world, and brought a husband right to her door!
How did you meet your sweetheart? Was it an epic and dramatic love-at-first-sight moment? Or perhaps love grew after years of friendship? Or maybe it was dislike at first sight and something changed your mind?
