my philosophy

The Adventures of a Destination Bride – Part 1 (Hey Neighbor!)

It was a Sunday evening in August and I had just got home from a long day of bartending and all I wanted to do was jump into some comfy clothes, grab something refreshing, and relax on my couch. On the drive home I was imagining what tv show I was going to catch up on, because as a bartender, you rarely ever get an evening off, let alone a Sunday evening!

When I pulled up to my apartment my eye caught the sight of my cute neighbor, “Chico” as I called him. He was playing Kan Jam, as this was a regular occurrence in the grassy area of our complex. The August air was nice and warm with a slight breeze so he was wearing a T-shirt with a light zip up sweater and looking cute as ever. See, “Chico” and I had been friends, really rather acquaintances for a while now. We hadn’t really even hung out before, but always said our friendly hellos in passing as we would leave our houses at the same time, or were seen around the neighborhood. He was my neighbor, yep… right next door. As a matter of fact, we shared the same wall of our bedrooms.

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Our nick names (Chico and Tortuga) had actually come about after a conversation that we had about being able to use a cup and strings as our way of communication across our bedroom windows and we would obviously need to have nick names while talking on our high tech equipment! I dubbed him Chico because at the time he was fostering a small dog, so “Chico Pero” got shortened to just “Chico”, and I was “Tortuga” because I had two little red eared slider turtles!

I had been single for a while now, but as anyone who just gets out of a really long relationship, my thought was definitely not to jump right back into one. I had actively been trying NOT to get involved with anyone because I really just wanted to focus on myself for a while. But of course, it’s hard to resist a warm smile, and great conversation from your friendly (really cute) neighbor. So I decided to still jump into comfy clothes, grab that refreshing drink, but instead of jumping on the couch, I decided to go back outside and join in on the fun.

Sunday Neighbor Dinners were a tradition in our complex, we all got together, bringing food, drinks, and board games. I had never been to one, because as I mentioned earlier….. having a free sunday evening was rare. It felt like family as we all sat around in a circle finding couches, bean bags, or pillows to sit down on. We ate, we drank, and we laughed into the late hours of the night.

When the evening came to an end, we all said our goodbyes. Everyone hugged and laughed and made plans for the next Neighbor Dinner. Chico was one of the last people for me to say goodnight to and as he pulled me in for a hug, it felt absolutely… perfect. Now, I don’t know if anyone of you has ever had this feeling that you absolutely just ‘fit’ with someone else. For lack of a better word, it was magical. Time stopped for a second and it felt like everything else just kind of faded away. I knew that this feeling wasn’t something that I wanted to go away anytime soon, and I tried to keep my composure as we walked towards our conjoined home. We turned the knobs to our respective houses, looked at each other, and I giggled like a school girl as I walked inside.

From that day we were inseparable. I have found my Prince Charming, my Love. We have been through so much in the past two and a half years and I am so lucky to have him by my side loving me with every breath. Love is tough at times, but it’s meant for the strongest. You learn so much about one another by going through rough times and coming out the other end as a better couple.

I love you, David. You will always be my ‘Chico’ and I will always be your ‘Tortuga’.

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