The Story of Us

When I was in love and engaged I had a fairy tale romance with one of the most incredible men I have ever met. We met by chance one night and could not stop talking. He was in my tiny college town the weekend of the largest outdoor auto show that was hosted by the university I was currently attending and the same one he had graduated from 4 years earlier. The next night he asked me to dinner and to have drinks with some of his alumni friends who were also in town for the same event. Once again we were fixated on each other the entire night, barley touching our drinks and hardly noticing the other 350+ people at the crowded bar. That was a night I never wanted to end. When the 2 a.m. last call light came on, we paid our tab and headed out for coffee on a hot September night in Michigan. Through the sunroof of his rental car we gazed at stars and talked until 7 a.m. finding out many commonalities and significant tid-bits about one another. We both agreed that we truly believe that everything happens for a reason and that fate and destiny are behind everything. I told him I didn’t believe in love at first sight and that I have been dealt every line in the book when it comes to meeting men. He said that he was honest and his intentions were honest also and that I need not worry about him throwing out sappy lines. I honestly believed him. After the hours of conversation we’ve had I was learning more and more about him and he was getting to know me as well. We touched on just about every topic and I was just as starry eyed as ever listening to him. He honestly took hold of my entire being and made it seem as if the entire world had stopped and the crowds parted and allowed us to meet just as fate had intended. Our chance meeting had turned into an extraordinarily profound one. I knew without a shadow of a doubt that he would soon be playing a large roll in my life. As the sun began to come up over the trees and our coffee was now cold and useless, the song “Why Don’t You Stay” by Bob Seger came on the radio and I was completely fixated on the lyric’s. It was the exact message that I was dying to tell him. Why don’t you stay? I wanted him to be around for another couple of days because my heart was captivated by this wonderful man whom I only just met. I wanted more time with him, but he had a flight to leave that day. He asked to take me to lunch and I agreed, thrilled to death he still wanted to see me after talking to me for almost 12 straight hours! We made arrangements to meet and at the same time we both mentioned we were in the mood for a raspberry iced tea. Upon the synchronized wish, we locked eyes and smiled. We were on the same page when it came to everything. Right down to the minutest detail. We had the same political views, religious beliefs, musical choices, favorite movies, favorite sports, and so on. When we arrived at the restaurant we sat with more of his alumni friends and as the conversations pasted, so did the time. Soon he would have to be on his way to the airport and back to Chesterfield, Missouri (where ever that was) and out of my life. As we got into his rental car once again so that he could drop me off and head to the airport, he paid me the greatest complement I have ever received. I will never forget what he told me and the conviction in his eyes as he said it. He told me he was so happy to have met me and that there was no way he wanted to go home and never talk to me again. He asked for my contact information and gave me his business card. He told me that it would be hard for him not to call me the minute he arrived back in Missouri. He said that talking to me was the thrill and highlight of his weekend. He parked his car beside mine so that we could part ways and said, “It’s going to take everything I have to let go of your hand.” I felt the same way and told him, “It’s going to take everything I have to get out of this car.” He kissed me, just as “Collide” by Howie Day began to play in the car, and I was elated. He was so close to perfect that it simply wasn’t fair! Why did we have to go to Northwood University 4 years apart? Why did he have to live in Missouri? Why did this weekend visit have to end? I was engulfed by his kiss when my mind suddenly became clam. I felt as if I didn’t have to worry anymore because I would leave it up to fate again to bring him back to me somehow. As I got into my car and headed to the campus computer lab to finish weekend homework, I pulled out his business card. I knew that I would not get any work done until I had e-mailed him and told him how great I thought he was and how excited I was that we were going to keep in touch. When I took my seat at a vacant computer I began to type his address into the space to send him a message and paused when I hit the ‘subject’ line. What would I write in the ‘subject’ line? JUST THEN, my phone began to ring. IT WAS HIM! I almost screamed with excitement. I answered the phone bewildered, “Aren’t you supposed to be at 35,000 feet right now?!” I asked giddy and nervously. He replied with, “Do you really believe that everything happens for a reason?” My answer was an ecstatic “YES!” to which he said “My flight is cancelled until tomorrow.” On a perfect 76 degree sunny day in September, a flight from Midland, Michigan to St Louis, Missouri could not take place. And that was the great stroke of fate that brought him back to me. I screamed into the phone “Come back to me! Come back to me!” to which he answered, “I already am.” He came to my apartment and when he knocked on the door I could not help but throw my arms around his neck and kiss him as soon as I saw his face in my doorway. He said it was destiny and that he never knew it could work in his favor so perfectly. We made dinner and talked all night again. There was no topic that was off limits. He and I had a connection that was beyond anything I have ever experienced both before or since. When I told this story to my co-workers the next day I had 6 women in tears and fanning their eyes telling me it was the most beautiful love story with a fated meeting they had ever heard. For the next year they were constantly asking me on how the relationship was going and the newest story of the romantic way Brett was sweeping me off of my feet. He went home on a Monday afternoon and by Wednesday he had booked a flight back to see me in 3 weeks. We met every 3 to 4 weeks and he flew me to Chesterfield for Christmas, New Years, and my Birthday. His mother was from a small town 15 minutes away from where I attended college, so when she was in town visiting her parents we met for dinner. She told me that the first words out of his mouth when she asked, ‘how was your trip’ were, “mom, I’ve met someone.” We had the greatest romance I have ever known, even though it was very long distance. We were engaged on New Years Eve 2006 but by June we had parted ways. It was the saddest time of my life. Despite the devastating break up that left my heart in shambles, I still made my way to Lindenwood University ( the school we chose for me to attend together) for my second BA. Although it was a love story with an abrupt and heart wrenching ending, the beginning and duration of the romance was astoundingly real and truly captivating.

I Dream of Love

tomorrow
by cullen ray clifton

If the sun won't set tomorrow
and this day won't ever end
I’d take this time God's given me
to think of you again.

And perhaps the sun might rise
and the day turn into night
but, still, I’ll sit and think of you
till darkness fills my sight.

The sun did set and the night came, too
still I stare and dream and think of you.


This is a poem I found recently that sparked my interest. It resonates with me because I have been in that situation before. I have been the one to think and dream of my love as he comes into my life. When you fall in love, that person fills your mind and heart every second of the day. We begin to live and eat and breathe for that person as if their very existence is the reason we are on this earth. We long for the moment we will meet again, we think of their face and smile. We can catch a glimpse of them in every person we see. We think we smell their scent on the wind Everything about their being excites us and creates this burning desire to be next to them as much as possible. We loose ourselves in this new love and the love we have for that person defines who we are, if only for a moment. We see ourselves in their eyes, we make them a part of our future plans, we are engulfed by them. They are in our thoughts and in our dreams. Whether or not it is a true and lasting love is up to the stars to decide. We can fall in love in a moments notice and we cannot control who we fall in love with. Our destiny may toy with us and put us through trials that will break our hearts and weaken our spirits; but all is not lost. When we loose a lover, we do not loose our ability to love. We are simply stripped down to the our most venerable selves. We are able to rebuild ourselves, sometimes with our own strength and resilience; and sometimes with the help of friends and loved ones. Falling in love is a wonderful thing, falling out of love is the only painful thing about love. But falling out of love does not mean falling apart. We can still love in our thoughts and love in our dreams, just as the poem says.