Love Stories: Unexpected

I was never one of those girls who sought after "the one". In fact, I avoided relationships as much as possible. Part of that was due to the fact that I had been hurt before and the other part due to the fact that I always made fun of girls who were in constant need of a relationship. I was single and happy being that way!  That was two years ago, in January 2009. 

Story goes: I had a new friend request on Facebook with a message in my inbox from one of my parents' close friends saying, "Marcie, this is my nephew from Oklahoma, the one I've been telling you about. I really think you guys would hit it off." I hit approve on the request and quickly moved on to another task, not thinking twice. For three years I had heard about this nephew, but nothing about a long distance relationship sounded appealing to me. He emailed me a month later, and we sent messages back and forth for about two months. He asked if he could call me, I told him he could, but not to plan on this going anywhere. I had my mind made up of how my life would turn out, and at that point, a boy from Oklahoma didn't fit into my plans.  We had our first phone call, it lasted three hours, but I woke up the next morning feeling no different than I had before. He just wouldn't fit into my plans! I dodged his phone calls for the next three weeks, hoping he would take a hint like every other guy had. But something was different about Matt. He was persistent and wasn't going to let me slip away that easily! I finally relented and had a second phone conversation with him.....and that's when things changed. I couldn't believe how much we thought alike, how the things he said challenged me unlike any other person had been able to! We decided to meet in Denver, Colorado for our first date, a sort of half-way meeting point for the two of us. He was like something out of the black and white movies that I had oohed and awed over all those years. He swept me off my feet with his chivalry and southern boy charm! There was no going back for me; I had turned into one of the mushy, gushy girls that I had never understood and it was in that moment, that life as I had knew it, changed. My plans that I thought were so perfectly planned began to transform as our long distance relationship brought us closer and closer together. We had our share of ups and downs, most of them because I was still very afraid of giving up my idea of "the plan", but he stuck with me every step of the way.

In March 2010 he flew down to my hometown with a proposal unlike any other. He brought me out to the dock where we had our first kiss, which had been adorned with a red carpet, floating candles, rose petals and my best friend there to record the whole thing. He brought me out to the edge of the dock and got down on one knee saying, "These candles represent the light that you've been in my life. There are 1,500 rose petals out here, one for every time I think about you during the day and this red carpet is how I want to treat you the rest of my life." With that, he pulled out the ring and asked if I would marry him. Through my tears I managed a "YES!". We were married in August of 2010 and the chivalry and southern boy charm continues a year later! Matt has become my best friend and strength through all the twists and turns that life has brought our way.

My plans didn't turn out the way I had expected, but I've learned that life's way of changing things is always so much better than we could have ever hoped or imagined!

♥

See the previous Love Stories here! If you would like to submit your story, please send an e-mail to lovestories@shopruche.com. You may attach up to 5 photos, and we welcome creativity! Please try to keep your stories to a 1200 word limit. You will receive an e-mail when your story is selected. 

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