Our (Now Pre-)Wedding Story
We’re getting married. Okay, maybe not quite that short… I know, I know, bad comedy. Anyway – story time.
It began long ago somewhere around the summer of 1999 when I (Nick) and Lisa (my amazing fiancé) were both attending a College and Career Bible study through our church. We had long known each other through her siblings as well as church but it wasn’t until that summer that we really began a friendship. As with most people who find a friend of the opposite sex, it didn’t take long before everyone started predicting a relationship that exceeded the “just friends” tag Lisa and I consistently and adamantly applied to our relationship. Well, we were obviously wrong, and they were right – something I’m not at all opposed to now, mind you. Anyway… it was still a long road that brought us here, but going through it all would violate the whole “short story” concept, wouldn’t it? Let’s just say our friendship had its share of twists as turns as has our romance, a romance which came to life in October of 2001. Through a number of different situations and circumstances, Lisa and mine’s friendship had grown much deeper since 1999 and as our friendship grew inevitably our fondness for each other’s company did as well. It grew until one day the realization came that the fondness for each other’s company and the depth of our friendship had catapulted our hearts into what would soon be love.
On October 12th, 2001 Lisa and I decided to pursue the romantic feelings that had developed between us. It wasn’t long at all that we knew we would never go back to simply friends, nor did we want to. We knew we wanted to spend the rest of our lives together as we had known each other for so long – the absolute best of friends.
In retrospect…
Hindsight is indeed 20/20, I’ve heard that quote alot in my life and now more than ever I believe it. It amazes me to think about how long I really did have a stronger affection for Lisa than I would have ever admitted. It’s also neat to think about why we both waited so long to both admit our feelings as well as date – it was hard as friends to think about life without each other, the thought of a romance beginning and ending wasn’t an option. But that might just be the point I truly realized the degree of my feelings for Lisa – when I realized, “Wait, you don’t like Lisa… why are you thinking about a relationship coming to an end?” To which I then thought to myself, “But if I don’t want a relationship, then why in the world am I afraid of it ending?” The revelation that followed was indeed the obvious one that I did in fact look at Lisa as more than I once had and I wanted more for us…
For most people the beginning of a relationship is the beginning of an investigation or a search trying to determine if this person is “the one”, but the beginning of my relationship with Lisa was the end of my search. Many people spend their lives searching for love – that person that will become their best friend; I was blessed that love found me – I’m marrying my best friend.