The Story of Us

One of my favorite pictures of us - at Fort Ebey, WA

Ok. Get prepared for some sappy, goopy goodness. I promise I am not the type who lives only for their relationship- there is a lot going on in my life and in my head. That being said, some back story is needed.

I met Corey through mutual friends in November 2008, in one of those so-perfectly-timed-it-has-to-be-fate kind of moments. I was going over to hang out with my old friend Rachel that I had just reconnected with, and Corey was there at her apartment to see her boyfriend, Nick (with whom Corey had *just* reconnected). I had just come out of a 7-month relationship and Corey was in town visiting from FSU. I was immediately attracted to Corey, but I didn’t see anything happening between us so I wrote the possibility off and we just hung out, having fun. I had brought my laptop with me to play some new music for Rachel and Nick, and I set it up and started playing some songs. I have a wide love for music, and I am not into the top 40 scene at all. I am always surprised when someone can pick out one or two of the songs that I play…so imagine my surprise when Corey knew every single one. From Boards Of Canada to the new Radiohead release…we immediately launched into only-two-people-in-the-room mode and discussed music for hours. Our friends recognized the spark for what it was before we did, and did everything they could after that to bring us together. Unbeknownst to me, Corey has already been considering moving back to Jacksonville for family and personal reasons, and meeting me apparently made the right decision clear in his mind.

This is the first picture Corey ever took of me, blur and all, at the infamous apartment.

It took us a few months to finally get together, though. The months between November 2008 and March 2009 found us slowly hanging out more and more. I was dating someone else during this time period, convinced the whole time that Corey didn’t like me like me, since he was ‘too shy to make a move’ ..more like too considerate of the fact that I already had a boyfriend…oh silly younger me, you were so silly silly silly. It didn’t take too long for the tension between us to boil over, and one fantastically impulsive night found us talking and kissing for hours in our friend’s living room after all of our friends had gone to bed. The next day I broke up with the guy I had been seeing, and a few weeks later Corey and I began officially dating.

Over the summer of 2009 we flew out to Seattle to stay with my older sister Lisa for a week. Lisa is in the Navy and was stationed in Oak Harbor, WA at the time. We had only been dating for three months at the time, but even then I was pretty certain of our outcome. I really wanted Corey to meet Lisa, and vice versa, because Lisa has had a profound impact on my life. I love her to death, she is my best friend. In fact, Lisa along with our little sister Margie are the best sisters anyone could ask for. BUT I digress, as this is the story of us, not them. Anyhow, during this trip Corey and I grew even closer. It was the first time we were able to sleep together (and I mean sleep, dirty minds), it was the first time we spent an entire week in each others company, it was the first time we went on a trip together…and it was magical. I ended up catching a cold the day we got on the airplane (yeah, it was mid-June in Florida. I was not pleased) and was miserably sick for most of our trip. Despite this, I had the best time ever. Corey took care of me so lovingly and tenderly, and with his presence alone comforted me. He kept my mood light even when I was on the verge of tears. If I had any doubts before, I knew for certain then that this man would be my eternity.

Now, I’m not a religious person. Spiritual, yes, but not religious. I believe that there is some sort of magic in our universe that we will never understand. Whether this magic is just a deep undercurrent of self-fulfilling prophecy, or actual magic, I will never know. I don’t need to know, I like the uncertainty. The reason I bring this up now is because of a seemingly simple event that happened in Oak Harbor that I carry with me to this day, and probably will forever. We decided to take a day trip to this placed called Earth Sanctuary in Langley, WA. Earth Sanctuary is a 72-acre nature reserve and meditation spot, with gorgeous hiking trails and little hidden treasures in the woods. One such treasure was a Tibet Tech Prayer Wheel. As we each passed, we spun the prayer wheel and let our wishes emanate into the universe. I spun the wheel, eyes closed, and prayed that Corey would be the man I would marry and start a loving family with.

As the days have passed, we have started to meld our lives together into a single blend of a life. We are in our second year of living together. We adopted a dog, Clementine, from our local shelter back in October. We have been to concerts and poetry readings, we have traveled to the tops of mountains and swam in lakes. We have walked around our city goofing off…and most importantly we have grown closer together with each passing day. There is always something new to share, always something new to talk about. We are both passionate about our lives, and the way that we live them… and we are passionate about each other.

On March 13^th of this year, Corey proposed to me. On the pier of the Fort Clinch State Park, as the sun was beginning its descent, he had me stand on a bench and asked me if I thought I could love him forever. He slipped a ring onto my finger made of fishing line and a bead, both items he found on the pier. With the wind whipping my hair around, and the sound of seagulls and old wrinkled fisherman, I let tears fall with the biggest smile that has ever been on my face.

And I said yes.

As we walked back from the pier, in the throes of tearful happiness, I told Corey about my wish at the prayer wheel in Washington. Corey looked down at me, squeezed my hand, and stared at me with a look of shock on his face... because apparently there were two things that I did not know, that day at the Earth Sanctuary.

One is that the Tibet Tech Prayer Wheel is allegedly the most powerful prayer wheel in the world.

The second is that after I made my prayer to the universe and continued on the path, Corey came behind me and spun the wheel with a prayer identical to mine.