7 Years of Sitting with You

It was my 19th birthday and I had to say goodbye to my mom (going back to Brasil) and my sister (going to England for a semester). I was at a college I was new to, a town I wasn’t familiar with, and in a state I didn’t really know anyone. After our goodbyes I was so upset I went straight to my dorm room where I cried and slept for a couple of hours.

That was when I decided I would pick myself up and go do something. I made up my mind that I was going to quit moping around feeling sorry for myself. Instead I was going to go meet some people and make some friends. There were plenty of activities going on since it was the first week of college. Checking my freshman schedule, I realized I was supposed to be at a seminar about some book about Christian colleges (which I definitely had not read). So I headed out to the small auditorium where it was being held.

Arriving at the auditorium, I realized I was very late! I had to slip in as quietly as I could and find the closest empty seat on the end. Though there were plenty of empty seats to just sit my bootie in, I decided that I would choose my seat deliberately next to someone so I could meet them. As I scanned the room as quickly as I could, I noticed a guy I thought was pretty cute. He was the one (literally)... that I would sit next to.

Since I am Brasilian and was relatively new to the US, I was not too familiar with the American term “personal space”. Though there were plenty of empty seats down the entire row, I sat right up next to this boy. No skipped seat or anything! And I thought nothing of it. Hehe! As I sat through the 5 remaining minutes of the seminar, I kept trying to think of a way to talk to him so that I could have a friend and maybe meet the group of friends I was sure he had. At the end of the talk we were instructed to group up with the people around us and discuss why we had chosen to go to a Christian college. So of course, I was in the group with this boy and a few other people. We shared a little bit about ourselves and this boy began to tell me all about how he was on the baseball AND the basketball team. I was laughing on the inside thinking this poor boy only wishes. I don’t remember much more of our conversation, but I remember I thought he was cocky and did not really want to get to know his friends (I think God probably was laughing, thinking "if they only knew"). I left that auditorium alone only to re-meet that boy a semester later in a class.

Little did I know that I had just met the love of my life. My best friend, companion, husband, and father to our daughter. I had no idea that that conversation would be the first of many. That I would choose to sit next to that man every day for the rest of my life. It’s been 7 years since that young and immature girl met her Prince Charming.

“Oh how the years go by. Oh how the love brings tears to my eyes.”

I love you forever.

PS- I was to later find out his opinion of me that day was not the greatest either. Haha! I guess we were not quite ready for one another.

A little before we were "officially" a couple, Summer 2005

Visiting David in California, January 2006

Engaged!, July 2007

During our engagement, November 2007

Our wedding day..., December 2007

Baseball times, January 2008

Happy, October 2009

Expecting our first baby, Spring 2011

Family of 3!, August 2011