When I moved out to the Seattle area in 2001, I landed a SWEET teaching job at Medina Elementary. I had no idea I would meet two of the best friends I have ever had right there on that 2nd grade teaching team. Michelle Moody and Kim Woodard surrounded me with their friendship, teaching experience, helpfulness, guidance, and laughter in a place so far from my home and former life as a college student. I was in the "real world," REALLY REALLY far away from every person, place, and thing I had ever known, and these two ANGELS were right where I needed them to be.
Michelle has always had some kind of killer 6th sense about what kind of comedy or tragedy is happening in my life. My phone remarkably rings QUICKLY after major events happen...engagement, positive pregnancy test, new jobs, moving, family illnesses, etc. She hasn't missed any of the major events in my life since 22, so it was no surprise that she got ahold of me this past November when I was at one of my lowest points since divorce.
So, it's November, my dreams are shattered, and I check my voicemail. Michelle is ECSTATIC. She woke up from a dead sleep with an epiphany and needed to tell me about it RIGHT THEN. "CALL AS SOON AS YOU GET THIS." Which I did. Michelle proceeded to tell me that there is a guy she knows that would be PERFECT for me....
Ok. Stop. Right. There. No such thing. I am over men. All they do is break my spirit and my heart. They are stinky and smelly and I'd rather have a root canal.
But he's YOU, but in MALE FORM.
Whoa. That's annoying. I don't want to date me.
He's a Christian! He volunteers! He coaches his daughter's softball team! He is on the board of the Little League and Football League! He does the "Watch DOGS" program at his daughter's school!
He's super busy. And really far away. Sounds perfect! (said no one ever)
...He is really funny.
I'm listening....
His name is Dan.
But he lives 2200 miles away. How is this perfect again?
I'm telling you--I was completely asleep. I never set people up. Ever. I think God just put your names in my head. You should at least call him.
I do need a distraction...(I really said that. I'm a jerk.) Ok, so let me get this straight. There's a single, Christian, amazing, funny dad in Seattle who you think will pick up a phone and call/text/email a single mom in INDIANA??!! Give him my number. I can't WAIT to see what he does with that! Ha!
Insert your favorite romantic song here and imagine a montage playing with images of lots of texting, phone calls, smiles, laughs, prayers, some tears here and there, some friends telling us we're nuts, some other friends indulging in our happiness, and two people absolutely CLUELESS of what was in store for them. Fast forward to March. I decided to fly out to Seattle and meet this guy face to face. I was secretly hoping he would be a big jerk in person, and then I could just put it all behind me. :) That would have been soooo much easier-- but definitely not better. Leading up to the moment that I actually laid eyes on him for the first time, a million things went through my head about what he would be like in person, what he would think of what I was like in person, and every wonderful and terrible possible scenario of how that could go down.
Here is that week in list form (out of respect for short attention spans)
- He greeted me at the door with a hug, but made me wait for like 12 seconds after I knocked...even though he knew the moment I arrived
- He told me I was beautiful--he calls me that like it's my name...I think I could get used to that :)
- He held doors for me everywhere we went
- We laughed. A lot.
- Late one night on a whim, he humored my suggestion of, "Do you want to do something crazy?" And we drove to West Seattle (my favorite view of the Seattle skyline is from there) where we stopped for greasy cheeseburgers on the way and took this picture. I love this picture because when I first saw it, I was seeing myself HAPPY for the first time in a very long time...
<---So happy! :)
- We stayed up really late that week--he worked during the day and it was as if we were squeezing every last millisecond out of the time we had together. The Moodys were gracious to allow me to stay in their house and I was not a very polite houseguest coming home at wee hours of the morning. But I was still up at 7 every day! :) I was so energized by my happiness that I didn't even NEED SLEEP.*
*This statement turned out to be false because I ended up with strep throat on my arrival back to Indiana. Turns out sleep is GREAT for the immune system. :)
Since then, Dan has visited my home in Indiana twice, and I spent a month visiting him in Seattle this summer. I have had the time of my life with this guy, and he has been "unburying" the happy, fun, beautiful me that I have hidden away under my guilt, shame, and bitterness. He never fails to see the best in me, and all of those annoying little quirks that drive me CRAZY about myself--he finds them endearing and adorable. He makes me feel special, honored, and amazing. I don't know how else to describe our relationship, other than if I weren't me, I'd be jealous of me. :)
So, to one of my dearest friends of all time, Michelle Moody, I say THANK YOU. Thank you for taking the time to think of me, pray for me, and act on an impulse to introduce me to a man who expedited the painful process of getting me back to MYSELF. Thank you for continually listening to my life stories (in my best times and worst times) and for your killer instinct of knowing the precise moment of when those times occur. :) Thank you for being a constant source of JOY in my life--with those amazing kids of yours, your razor sharp wit, your compassionate heart, problem-solving resourcefulness, the way you recognize beauty in the world around you, and bring out the best in the people among you. You are a GIFT, and I absolutely treasure your friendship that has withstood time and distance, and is stronger for both.
And, to all of the people in my life who have taken an interest in my happiness (and this blog), thank YOU. I am so very grateful for the myriads of friends who have come along beside me in my journey and have built me up when all I could see was rock bottom. I realize I am not the first person to experience all I have gone through, but still. You get my drift. I am so blessed with amazing friends and family who see the best in me, always. It is my prayer that I am returning and/or will return the favor somehow. I think I should finally post this now... :)
