Every relationship has a story. Some are better than others. I like our story. It’s a good story.

I had been a pretty serial monogamist throughout my twenties. I would date someone for a long time then some sort of catastrophic event would occur and we would break up. Sometimes we would end up back together. But we would just fizzle out after I realized the catastrophic event was a foreshadowing of a relationship not meant to be.

My early thirties were spent enjoying single life. I went to bars with my BFF. I likely drank too much and had more fun than I was entitled to. I tried dating apps in their early stages. They were awful. From friends I know still on dating apps, they remain awful.

I made a decision to just enjoy myself. Put dating aside and simply have fun living on my own. My BFF roommate had moved out to be with her guy. It was the first time I had ever lived solo. I really liked it that way. But I longed for a family of my own. I was born to be a mom. I knew this. So I quietly decided that if I hadn’t met the man of my dreams before my 36th birthday, I was going to start a family of my own with or without a husband.

Just after my birthday in 2010, my sister’s sister-in-law asked to borrow a dress. We were friends and wore the same size so I offered to drop the dress at her house. I remember her kids were sick. One was throwing up on the couch while the other was taking a bath…presumably from having just thrown up. That sparked something in her.

J:  Hey. I know a guy. Are you interested in being set up?  

Me: I don’t know. Maybe?  I’m not sure. 

J:  I’m going to give him your number. Maybe he will text or something. He works in my office sometime. He’s a good guy. 

He didn’t text. He called. He freaking cold called a perfect stranger. we awkwardly chatted as you do when someone you don’t know calls you. We set up a lunch date for a Saturday afternoon after we both got off work.

I failed to mention I had just broken things off with a guy I had been casually dating. He worked in my school district but at a different school. We never clicked and I just wasn’t feeling it. He apparently through differently and showed up just as I was leaving work that day. With flowers. He noticed I was dressed nicer than I usually dress for Saturday preschool screening. He figured it out but left me with the flowers anyway. I tossed them into the back of my car and threw my coat on top of them. Off to my lunch date.

It was a really REAL blind date. I’ll be the girl wearing the gray coat. Hope he can find me. It was a wonderful afternoon. We had lunch at a casual spot. We talked for hours. It was great. We tentatively agreed to meet up again the following weekend. He walked me to my car while I prayed he didn’t noticed the flowers peeking out from the back seat. He didn’t.

The rest is history. We got engaged almost exactly yet years later. We invited my sister’s sister-in-law to the wedding. We told her to wear the dress.

So that’s our story. I love it. My kids love to hear our story, too.