As I clicked "purchase" on the airline ticket, I thought about the fact that $273.30 of my checking account was now gone.
Later that following week as we, Michael and I, were talking on the phone, Michael said, "Hey, I bought you something today, but I'm not going to tell you what it is." I begged him for a hint. The only thing that he would tell me was "It may or may not have a lens." My mind swirled with ideas. "A camera" my mind came to the conclusion of, and I said as much. "Perhaps." Michael said with a smile in his voice. "Tell me another hint." I told him. "Well..." he dragged out, "Parts of it will be see through." "A camera." My mind told me again. I thought he was talking about the little square hole a person would look through to take the picture. "A camera." I told him again. "Nope." he said laughing. "Okay, fine. Tell me another hint." He said no, but I convinced him to tell me another one. "Okay...let's see. Oh, I know. There will be a lot of 'focus' on it." "A Camera!" I squealed at him. Laughing at my frustration, he said, "Nope!" I demanded he give me another clue, but he stood firm and kept his silence.
The days dragged by until my flight left at 8:00 am. on July 17th, 2011. This was my first time flying by myself, and I was more than a little bit terrified. I got to the airport, and was directed by some security guards, who took pity on me, to the right gate, and how to tell which gate I needed to go to when I got off my first flight and waited for my layover to wear out.
Walking through the Metal Detector without my shoes, money, tickets, and I.D., I half winced as I expected the alarm to go off at any time, seeing as I had a bad history with these things and zippers on my outfit. Not hearing the alarm go off, I let out my breath. Grabbing my backpack, flip-flops, tickets, and book from the bin, I slipped into my shoes, and walked on, thinking about seeing Michael again for the first time in 6 months.
My flight from the South Bend Airport to Detroit, Michigan lasted approximately 33 minutes, and I had a layover that lasted a good hour and a half. I called Michael as I was waiting for my flight to be called from Gate C8. "Well," I told him, "I only have one more flight before I get to see you." I said with a slightly breathless tone. "Yep." he said, just as excited as I was. We talked for a bit more and my flight was finally called.
Boarding my second flight, the only place my mind went to was a certain young man in Charlotte, North Carolina. A man by the name of Michael who was my best friend. Time flew (no pun intended) by and soon my plane was landing at the Greensboro Airport.
As we drove to Morehead, North Carolina which was along the coast of the Atlantic Ocean, I heard one of the phones ring. "Hello?" said Katie, Michael's little sister. "Oh, hi Michael. Yah, we've got her. Uh-huh." They talked a little bit more and we finally reached the beach house around 8:45 pm. We unpacked, and made dinner.
At about 11:00 pm. Michael and Ray, who were supposed to meet us at the beach house, were still not there, so Katie and I went over to the beach, and went looking for seashells. We had been out for about half an hour when the phone Katie had taken with her (because mine was charging back at the house) started ringing loudly. Before answering the phone, she grabbed my hand and helped me up a "wall" of sand and rescued me from a wave that would have potentially would have knocked me over and into the salty sea water.
"Come on. Let's go." Katie called to me over the roar of the waves crashing into the sand. "What? why?" I asked. "Because. That was Michael. He and Ray just got here. They're up on the deck." she said. He was here. I was just minutes away from seeing him. No...I was SECONDS away from seeing him. I was so excited and terrified at the same time. I forced myself to walk as Katie and I made our way back to the deck over-looking the ocean. When we reached the bottom of the stairs, I didn't dare look up. "Hurry up girls!" I heard Michael call. Swallowing, I kept myself in check while Katie ran on ahead and hugged her older brother.
Reaching the top step, I still kept my gaze on the floor boards. A dark figure stepped into my line of peripheral vision and I half forced myself to look up. Seeing Michael in the moonlight I heard him softly say "It's been too long." and he wrapped me into a big hug. All I could do was nod as an overwhelming amount of emotion flooded my whole body making me feel weak. Finally recovering my composure, I pulled away from him and took a deep breath. "Yah..." I said, "It has been a long time." I glanced over at Ray, Michael's older brother, who was talking to Katie.
"Come here." Michael said softly, taking me by the elbow. I resisted slightly because I was talking to Ray about something. Finally going with Michael, we slowly walked across the deck and he asked me, "So, do you want your present now?" I nodded, and he placed me in the corner of the deck and said, "All right, but you have to close your eyes." I closed my eyes, but then realized that he could see that I had my eyes shut. Putting my hand over my eyes, I squeezed my eyes tightly shut. "Okay, now." I heard Michael say. Opening my eyes, I looked into open space. I heard a shifting down by my feet and I heard Michael clear his throat and ask, "Will you marry me?" Looking down at him, my jaw dropped. There he was. He had gotten down on one knee, and now held a box in his right hand.
The glistening ring in the box sparkled in the moonlight and suddenly I felt like I was about to pass out. My head was swimming, and thought seemed to be acting as a vortex inside my head. I couldn't say anything for the longest time. Finally I breathlessly said, "Bare feet and all..." referring to my sandy bare feet from walking along the beach. Finally after what seemed like an excruciating long period of time, and several attempts at speaking but only getting squeaks out, I nodded my response.
He stood up and put the ring on my finger, and hugged me again. Suddenly I heard clapping off to my left. Looking up from the ring on my finger, I noticed the men whom Katie and I had seen earlier smoking were clapping and grinning. Feeling kind of giddy, I giggled. Michael put his arm around my shoulders and we walked over to where Ray and Katie were standing, and the two men came over and started firing questions at us. "What are your names? Where are you from? How long have you known each other?" etc. Feeling overwhelmed, I let Michael answer most of the questions.
Where are we going from here? Well...We have decided on getting married on May 19th, 2012. We will be getting married at St. Andrews Episcopal Church in Morhead City, and then probably living in Charlotte, North Carolina. I am so thankful that the Lord led Michael and I together when He did, and that He changed my feelings for Michael when He did. God is in this relationship, and I am so excited to merge my life with Michael's and continue to serve the Lord each and every day.
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