Unapologetically Ourselves…

The month of December was full of interesting firsts for Leslie and me. We had decided that it was time to have our first visit so the plan was made for me to go out to North Carolina for a long weekend. As we began to look forward to the time where we would have the chance to sit face to face with one another and be in the same location as the other there was much excitement in the air. Phone calls and emails became more frequent and had an air of flirtation along with them. One example of that was just days before our first weekend together since Windy Gap, where Leslie wrote about a classroom occurrence:

Student- "Miss Unger, you have an email."
Miss Unger- "Ok, thanks."
"Who do you think it's from?"
"I don't know, I get a lot of emails."
"You sure do, you must be really popular."
"Well...."
"No, you are! Do you think I could be as popular as you someday?"
"Well, maybe, if you try real hard and wear a hot pink boa."
"Gotcha. So, who do you think the email is from?"
"Well, it could be from my friend Jason in Texas."
"Texas? Is he a cowboy? A real live one?"
"Uh huh, he grew up on a farm and everything. AND he was driving a truck at the age of seven." "Cool! What else does he do?"
"Sometimes he dresses up in really funny outfits and pretends to be other people."
"Wow, you're lucky to know a funny cowboy."
"I sure am."

Lucky, maybe, but we like to use the word blessed. It sounds much more appropriate. The weekend was a blessed time of seeing where Leslie teaches and her students, meeting some of her closest friends and engaging in life together. I will leave out all the mushy details about walks on the UNC campus and dancing by the lights of the Christmas tree, but I will tell you that it was the kind of weekend that made you want to live in the movie “Groundhog Day”. I would not have minded stopping time and seeing her everyday. (If you haven't gethered by now, Leslie and I are both hopeless romantics. We're not sappy, just not scared.)

We spent the entire weekend realizing that this must be what all those folks talked about when they encouraged Leslie and me to never settle for a mate. For the first time in our lives we were unapologetically ourselves, and we were loved for it. We found out that there was someone in this world that would fit us best and accent the greatest parts of each other. She didn't care that I whooped her in Uno Attack, even though it was on her home court, as long as I grabbed her hand afterwards and asked her to dance in the middle of the living room. And, she didn't mind that I am not the sharpest tool in the shed, as long as she's ok that the shed is kept in an orderly fashion. Cause no one likes a messy shop. (Yes, I am type A) The weekend was an amazing time to spend hours on end together figuring each other out.

I don’t know that we will ever forget our first visit together; I know that there is a bench in North Carolina that I owe our future to though and for that I am grateful. It was there on that bench on a beautiful winter day where I knew that we were to spend the rest of our lives together. Thank God for moments on our lives that cultivate true lifelong friendships.