The Story of Us: Part 2

Part 1

My first semester at college was a reality shock. I actually had the freedom to come and go as I pleased, make my own choices without reprimand and I LOVED it. I played volleyball, which consumed all of my time outside of class. I did, however, find some time to "play."

I remember the first time I went to a party with the intention of partying. I'd never partied in high school. This was a fraternity apartment (b/c they didn't have houses) and, thankfully, there was one upstanding guy who took me back to my room without taking advantage of me in my drunken state. The rest of my freshman year was more of the same. I managed to fail Calculus which crushed me because I'd never even made a "C" in high school. With each new challenge that came, I enjoyed trying to figure out solutions on my own. My relationship with my father continued to crumble, but the relationship with my Mom was slowly being rebuilt.

I returned to Lyon the fall of my sophomore year to find myself single, free from a relationship that had consumed my entire freshman year. I was one of those girls that always had a boyfriend or was dating someone. Looking back, I was hardly ever single unless I'd just broken up with someone. It didn't take me long to find another boyfriend.

I started dating this guy, an upperclassmen and I was totally swept off my feet. He lived off campus and I fell for him, HARD. We dated for about two months and out of the blue he broke things off. I got so angry with myself for being hurt. I had allowed him to hurt me because I had made myself vulnerable. I promised myself never, ever again would that happen.

Two weeks later, I met Luke again. It still amazes me that we didn't run into each other more often, or maybe we did and I just don't remember it. Lyon's total enrollment at the time was right around 500 students. The majority lived on campus. That meant everyone knew everyone. How had I not really noticed him before?

Still licking my wounds from the heartache of my last relationship, I decided to focus on making good choices. Since it was fall, volleyball was in season again. I tried hard to follow the rules of curfew, but with my heart broken I wanted to rebel. One night, the day before a volleyball game, I went back to my room to wait for our coach to call for curfew check. Once I got the call, I headed back out. I went over to the apartments on campus, the on campus hang out, hot spot.

I was sitting on a fence that surrounded a patio area. My sorority had hosted a party earlier that night and the theme was "Decade Party." Being that it was a game night, I was not drinking. As the rush of partiers arrived back on campus, here comes this guy in a light blue pin-striped suit with the most awful, curly wig on the planet.

**Sidenote: If you've been to our house and seen a short, curly wig in our kids' play chest, it's THAT one.**

It was a cool night, and Luke ended up offering me his jacket. I didn't get a twinge of "Ooooh, he's the one" or "Wow, he's so hot." Yes, I found him attractive, but still reeling from the last boyfriend I, for once, was NOT looking.

I've always heard that it is when you are not looking for love that you find "The One." I've also heard that when you "know", you "just know." For the record, the first one turned out to be true for me.

That crap about just "knowing"...it wasn't until years later that God showed me that there was a reason that I could not let go, even when everything and everyone around me was screaming..."DUMP HIM."