Our Love Story (as told by Will)

So before we begin I must say that this platform is my preferred platform. I get very weird behind a camera. For some reason I can’t take selfies unless I’m making a silly face, and if the camera is pointed in my direction for longer than 3 seconds I start freaking out. My wife on the other hand LOVES the camera, as you can probably tell by our Instagram posts. Okay LET’S GET TO IT!

So this story begins January 1st, 2017. At the time I was moon-lighting as a server at Bonefish Grill. While on shift, one of my good friends asks:

Robin: “Hey Will! How was your New Year’s Eve?”

I told her, “It was great. I spent the night with a beautiful woman. A woman that was strikingly gorgeous and an amazing cook. She’s so good to me, and the kiss. I mean WOW!”

Robin: “Oh my God Will, I didn’t know you were dating someone! Who is she?”

“I haven’t met her yet, but when I find her I will let you know.”

This was the moment that I claimed I would find the one I was meant to be with. For years, I have heard people speak about the law of attraction and speaking things to existence, but I never really paid it any mind. After my divorce, I was pretty much without a job, penniless, and living under my mother’s roof again. So what does a man with nothing going for him do? That’s right, he starts speaking things into existence. I started small: I will find a better job than delivering pizzas. BAM! Got it. I will either find a better paying job or a career. SHAZAM! I received a good raise at my current job and was offered a teaching position in North Carolina. I took the raise, interviewed for the teaching position, and soon after I moved to North Carolina to live with my cousin and her family again. Leaving my life in New Orleans was easy. Leaving my two beautiful children was the hardest thing I ever had to do, BUT it needed to be done for them and especially for me.

I spent my first year teaching on the weekdays and going out almost every Thursday and Friday. The weekends were dedicated to a lonely, depressing date with Netflix and sofa, that is until I started working for Bonefish Grill. OMG Thank you, BFG! My second year I spent simply working. I could not afford to go out anymore because I had FINALLY rented my own apartment and the money wasn’t there. I also didn’t have the time or the money to date anyone. So I spent my hours off strolling through Tinder. I wasn’t looking for anything or anyone, I just liked swiping left and right. Don’t judge me. You have your guilty pleasures and I had mine. On 12/31/16 I came across this picture of a beautiful curly-haired woman with flawless skin and an enticing smile. I just knew she was a “bot” or “catfish.” I took a chance and swiped right. Before my first shift of 2017, I was notified that we matched. Needless to say I was excited. This was either going to be a funny conversation with a “bot” or this was catfish, BUT I needed to find out.

I sent her a simple “Hey! Happy New Year!” I swear I checked that app like 3 times an hour. I figured we only matched because she accidentally swiped right. A mistake I’ve made plenty of times. She finally responded back the next day. We used Tinder to talk for like two days, before I confirmed her identity on Instagram. I still wasn’t convinced. Tired of guessing whether or not she was real, I gave her my phone number and told her to text me, call me, or Snap me.

I cannot begin to express to you how relieved I was when I saw her Snap videos. After the first video I knew I had to meet her ASAP! We finally met in person one night, and it was an instant connection that I have never experienced. I could not find one flaw that I couldn’t live with. She was perfect. She was what I was missing all of my life. She was the woman I dreamed and prayed for. And she’s the rib, God took from my body, so after 10 months I married her.

It being our second marriage we learned that marriage is something you work on every day to cultivate the love that will carry you until death parts you both. It’s not hard and it’s not easy, but it is worth it.