A Love Story: Part 2

So, this morning I left off with early 2006.

Brian and I both dated other people. He dated a few, I dated a lot, haha. He was always in the back of my mind though because he was just the one I loved. I never knew what love was until I loved him. And try as I might, I couldn't really envision myself with anyone else. Over the next three years we kept in touch via email periodically. One time in 2008, we even got together and talked about what it would be like to be together again. For various reasons, we decided at that point that we wouldn't try to make it work, but I started having that ache for what we had before. There were many times when we didn't like each other, but deep down we always loved each other. Once you experience that kind of love it stays with you always.

In May of 2009, I had just broken up with someone I had been seeing for about eight months. I had received an email from Brian a month or so before telling me that he was living in Virginia again.  I was bummed about my break up, but I knew it was the right thing to do, and then I had a dream about Brian. Those who know me well won't be surprised by this because I have intense and vivid dreams all the time. Its one of my favorite reasons to sleep.  This particular night, I was dreaming that I was riding in a car with my ex and we were arguing. I remember looking out the window and when I looked back, Brian was driving the car. I felt an overwhelming rush of relief at seeing him, and it was one of those dreams where you wake up longing for more.

At work that day, I wrote an email to Brian. I wanted to let him know that I was thinking about him and that I hoped he was doing well and getting settled into school or whatever he was doing in Virginia. I didn't anticipate anything really coming of it, I just had him on my mind and wanted him to know.

The next day I was at the front desk at work and I looked up and Brian was walking through the door. My heart literally skipped a beat when I saw him. I couldn't believe he was standing there. He asked me if I had some time to get together after work and I said yes. When I got off we just sat and talked. If you know him, you know that he is the opposite of me. He is logical, I am emotional, he has plans, and I have freak outs. Brian doesn't believe in soul mates in the traditional sense. And he told me as much, but he said he couldn't believe the sequence of events the day before.

I emailed him during the day. He had just barely moved back to Illinois. He was just feeling like he  should be back in Illinois but he didn't know why. The night I emailed him, he was at Wal-Mart picking up some stuff and he was in the parking lot thinking about me. He said he was going to get in his car and drive up to my mom and dad's house and tell me I needed to break up with my boyfriend because there is no way he could love me as much as Brian did. He decided such an impulsive declaration wouldn't be the best idea so he went home and when he sat down to check his email and  he saw my letter. The timing of everything seems very romantic to me.  Finally after three and a half years we were on the same page.

I didn't really deal well for a long time after Brian and I broke up initially. Nothing bad happened between us, but when I realized what a mistake it was that we weren't together, I was really heartbroken. Without knowing what was going on with me emotionally, all my friends and family saw was me falling apart afterward.  So needless to say, everyone was shocked when I announced after a few weeks that we were back together. Very slowly but surely people started to realize that I was happy again and that it was because of Brian.

Falling back into a routine with Brian was easy. I didn't need to fall back in love with him becuase I had really never stopped loving him. We had all of the old little things in common still, and any other issues that we used to have had been reconciled in the interim. We became serious very quickly. We visited Virginia again in summer 2009 and I was welcomed lovingly back into his family. 

In November of 2009 we visited Chicago to see the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. Its one of our favorite things to do for a day trip. We had dinner at a upscale chinese restaurant called Ben Pao and my fortune cookie that night read, "a sweet surprise awaits you" and it did. In the gallery at they symphony center Brian asked me to marry him. I said yes and we spent the next eight months planning our very simple and intimate wedding. We got married on July 17th, 2010 and it was easily the happiest day of my life.

Not many pictures exist from Brian&Lindsey 1.0, but we have a lot from the spring when we got back together.

Looking back I can see all the unique and special ways that our Father in Heaven had a part in guiding Brian and I back to each other. I am so glad that we made the decision to be together again. It reminds me of a quote I read in a talk by President Thomas S. Monson, "Choose your love, and love your choice."

I am so happy loving my choice.

Lindsey