In 2011, a friend invited me to a happy hour and I remember meeting a good-looking, intelligent and charming guy named Patrick. At the time, however, Patrick was a little too charming for my tastes given that he was regaling all of the women at the bar with stories and in my opinion, doing the most. Still, I couldn’t resist his personality and sense of humor … so, we became friends.

We stayed connected via Facebook and Blackberry (!), although we would meet for a meal or drinks when we happened to be in the same city. Then, one day in 2015, he called me to say that he was working on a project in NYC and was planning to change his flight to leave Philadelphia, so that he could take the train down and hang out with me. I thought this was weird since it went against the “when we happen to be in the same city”-rule, but per usual, I figured that he was just doing the most. I didn’t realize that was an attempt at making his intentions known, but realized those intentions later that year when he asked me for my travel dates and said that he planned to show up wherever I was.

I didn’t give him my dates. So, early in 2016, he called to say “since that didn’t work, I’m giving you my dates for the next three months”. What Patrick doesn’t know is that I put those dates on my calendar. Although I didn’t know if I would use them, I knew that I looked forward to communicating with him every day. I knew that just seeing his name pop-up on my phone brightened my day and that he consistently found ways to make me smile. I knew that he was a good son, father, friends and overall person, and that not exploring what could be between us might result in a missed blessing. So, on February 7, 2016, which was one of his dates, I flew to Minnesota.

Of course, the rest is history and part of a beautiful love story that has gotten us to this moment. Through it all, I am so thankful for Patrick and that he was purposeful in his actions because I’ve never been this happy. I am undeniably happier than I ever imagined and cannot wait to become his wife.