The Beginning

A year ago today...

It was my senior year of college. The last day of class...just days before graduation. It was raining. Again. And, I was paranoid about my hair frizzing up like a white-girl afro. I slipped into chapel, quickly immersed by my friends. From across the expansive auditorium, I saw him.

It was a perfect movie moment. I gasped. And lost my train of thought as I stared at one beautiful man. My friend, Regan, shook me. "Bethany? What happened?" She paused. "Where is he?"

I was never one to notice a man's looks. Honest! I was notorious for walking past dozens of  "drop-dead gorgeous" men and never noticing them. Ever. I had tunnel vision and it wasn't on them. Except that day. When I couldn't stop staring at that hottie-of-a-male-specimen.

He was my student. I was his Admissions Counselor. To my friends, to my boss, it was a little bit of a scandal. But he was soo crushing on me. And, I knew it. And, I was...shall we say? "My interest was piqued."

When he came into his Admissions meeting that afternoon, I suspected he'd ask me out. Regan had already give him a campus tour, and I had slipped into her dorm room afterwards to get the scoop on this man. She nodded her at-first-glance approval.

Our meeting lasted an hour. One long hour of me trying to still my heart and shoo away the singular thought I kept having: What would it be like to kiss this man?

He eventually said something like, "We should hang out. You know, since you will be here all summer."  I thought he meant when he started college, in August. "Sure" I stumbled out. (Okay, okay, so I don't take the most obvious "do you wanna go out" hints)

Then he left. But, that wasn't the end. That was only the beginning.

Today, one year ago today, Ben and I met. Finally. Face-to-face after months of phone calls as I guided him through the Admissions process.

Today, one year later, my husband and I are going to celebrate that first meeting. And, why not? It changed our lives. For the best.

Who doesn't love a good love story? Well, I'm going to share ours as we hit each monumental day. I hope ya'll are ready...