After a few unsuccessful
relationships and nearly two years of being “single,” I gave up on men. I
decided to stop looking and really focus on work. At that time, I was working
in childcare and had a second job doing respite care for a family that I have grown
incredibly close to. I am still with them to this day, more so to maintain the
important relationships than for the money, which is now just a bonus!
I was working up to 60 hours a week and in my spare time I’d go out with a group of girlfriends that liked to go for drinks and dancing. I was satisfied and content for the most part. Then, one night one of the girls said she knew someone she wanted to set me up with. I was open to meeting people and went along, but didn’t expect anything to come from it.
She arranged a “first meeting” to let us get a look at each other. The guy was a bartender, which didn’t matter much to me, so we went to his work and saw him in action. He was cute. Our mutual friend arranged a series of events in the following weeks for us to get to know each other and, eventually, we took it into our own hands and began dating.
I was taken aback by this guy. He was not only cute but also self-sufficient. He had an apartment, a vehicle, and a steady job. That was shocking! A lot of the guys I had met previously were less than par when it came to self sufficiency. Plus, he was also incredibly kind, thoughtful, compassionate and sweet, even chivalrous! He opened doors for me, complimented me, and held my hand. I was smitten!
I didn’t know many of his friends or the area of the city he was from so it was all very strange and new to me. I didn’t know how to take this guy. It’s too good to be true, I thought. And if something seems to be too good to be true, it probably is, so I convinced myself he would likely end up like all the rest and tried not to take it too seriously. But only a few weeks into dating something crazy happened. I had just moved into a new place and there were boxes everywhere. One day he sorta sifted through a box of my books and came across the one my Dad had written – The Way Life Is. This book is the story of my parents’ marriage and life together, chronicling their lives from before children all the way to when I graduated from high school. It tells about some of the most important, and personal, events of my childhood from my Dad’s perspective. And it is very near and dear to my heart.
I let this new guy borrow the book… he read it in one day! It is a fairly easy read but I was amazed that he was so into it. When he returned it to me, I figured that was going to be the end of what little relationship we had to that point. I figured, He now knows my wild past and all about my wild family so he will definitely be scared off!
He handed the book to me and said, “I feel like I have known you all my life… and I feel like I know your entire family now.”
That was it! He wasn’t scared! He didn’t think less or differently about me. In fact, I think he liked that he didn’t have to figure out why I am the way I am because the book told him. I didn’t have to explain my heart condition or my sister and all the crazy things that happened with her. All the initial hard work was done. And, just like that, I fell in love!
I was working up to 60 hours a week and in my spare time I’d go out with a group of girlfriends that liked to go for drinks and dancing. I was satisfied and content for the most part. Then, one night one of the girls said she knew someone she wanted to set me up with. I was open to meeting people and went along, but didn’t expect anything to come from it.
She arranged a “first meeting” to let us get a look at each other. The guy was a bartender, which didn’t matter much to me, so we went to his work and saw him in action. He was cute. Our mutual friend arranged a series of events in the following weeks for us to get to know each other and, eventually, we took it into our own hands and began dating.
I was taken aback by this guy. He was not only cute but also self-sufficient. He had an apartment, a vehicle, and a steady job. That was shocking! A lot of the guys I had met previously were less than par when it came to self sufficiency. Plus, he was also incredibly kind, thoughtful, compassionate and sweet, even chivalrous! He opened doors for me, complimented me, and held my hand. I was smitten!
I didn’t know many of his friends or the area of the city he was from so it was all very strange and new to me. I didn’t know how to take this guy. It’s too good to be true, I thought. And if something seems to be too good to be true, it probably is, so I convinced myself he would likely end up like all the rest and tried not to take it too seriously. But only a few weeks into dating something crazy happened. I had just moved into a new place and there were boxes everywhere. One day he sorta sifted through a box of my books and came across the one my Dad had written – The Way Life Is. This book is the story of my parents’ marriage and life together, chronicling their lives from before children all the way to when I graduated from high school. It tells about some of the most important, and personal, events of my childhood from my Dad’s perspective. And it is very near and dear to my heart.
I let this new guy borrow the book… he read it in one day! It is a fairly easy read but I was amazed that he was so into it. When he returned it to me, I figured that was going to be the end of what little relationship we had to that point. I figured, He now knows my wild past and all about my wild family so he will definitely be scared off!
He handed the book to me and said, “I feel like I have known you all my life… and I feel like I know your entire family now.”
That was it! He wasn’t scared! He didn’t think less or differently about me. In fact, I think he liked that he didn’t have to figure out why I am the way I am because the book told him. I didn’t have to explain my heart condition or my sister and all the crazy things that happened with her. All the initial hard work was done. And, just like that, I fell in love!
Very sweet! I love it!
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