A love story

In honor of Valentine's Day today and my wedding just 31 days away, I thought I would share the story of how Mark and I met.

It was the beginning of March in 2009. My friend Lucy had texted me one Friday night saying her and her then fiance were going to ride a party bus with her aunt and a group from her aunt's church to Greektown Casino the next morning and she asked if I wanted to go. I'm not much for gambling but I figured Parker was gone for the weekend and I didn't have any other plans so why not? I woke up early the next morning, met them at the church and off we went.

We didn't really do much, each of us from the bus were given a $20 player club card so we just wandered around the casino with drinks in our hands and randomly putting our cards in whatever machine we were walking by and looked interesting.

A few hours later it was time to head back to the bus to go home. As we walked out of the casino I saw an ambulance parked across the street and took note of the driver. I nudged Lucy and said "Hey Lu...check out the medic....ya?" Lucy's response "He's hot!" This is significant coming from Lucy as our tastes are usually vastly different.

We stood on the curb for a minute while her and Adam were trying to convince me to go talk to him. I'm not really that type of person so they half pushed, half pulled me into walking and proceeded to parade me around the front of the ambulance. Not once, not twice but 3 times!!! Oh my word I was embarrassed.

They were so determined I was not leaving without a phone number so Adam took my phone and walked up to the ambulance. The medic kindly rolled down his window and Adam said "Hey...are you single? I'm not gay or anything but that blonde over there thinks your hot." A couple minutes later he came back over and told me he had given the medic my number and he'll be texting me later. I just told him "we'll see....."

Later that night I headed out to my favorite country bar to see Josh Gracin perform with a couple of friends, completely spur of the moment. On the way I received a text from a number not programmed into my phone saying "Hey, this is Mark the medic." OH. MY. GOSH. I couldn't believe he had actually texted! I 'introduced' myself and we proceeded to exchange some texts. When I asked him how old he was and he came back with 22 I was shocked. I had just told him I was 30 and I couldn't believe he didn't stop texting right then and there.

We texted until my friends and I arrived at the bar and he told me he would text me later. I just said Ok, thinking "Sure, me a 30 year old single mom and you, a 22 year old guy? I won't hold my breath."

A few days later don't you know he texted me again? We proceeded to chat and get to know each other but each time I didn't hold too much stock in it, still not believing he could have a whole lot of interest in someone like me.

On March 14th I was up in Saginaw to go out and celebrate St. Patrick's Day with some friends when he texted me and said he had switched his shift for the next day so we could actually meet face to face. I remember telling him I hadn't even heard his voice because all we did was text and now he wants to meet face to face?? A minute later my phone rang and it was him!

I remember walking with my mother the next day, telling her about how I had met him and now I was meeting him that evening face to face for the first time. I remember telling her I wasn't looking for a relationship, that I was ok with things as they were, just Parker and I. I was very confident with this because I had just come out of a 2 year relationship and before that, a marriage.

That night he showed up, still wearing his uniform. WOW...I'm not usually that type of girl that gets all googly over a man in uniform but this was a different story. He actually made me nervous!! I just couldn't believe this incredibly gorgeous (and young!) guy was sitting here...talking to ME, telling ME how gorgeous I am! And even though I still wasn't convinced this was for real, I started feeling something...some sort of pull, something drawing me in. A definite spark.

He left, promising he would text me, which he did the next day and we made plans to see each other again for the next day. Each time he promised to text or call me, he did and it started breaking through to me I could take him somewhat seriously.

By March 22nd it was pretty clear to both of us that despite the fact we hadn't known each other that long the amount of chemistry we had couldn't be denied and we agreed to date exclusively.

Now here we are, nearly 3 years later, just a month away from getting married and I have never been happier. Things haven't always been easy for us. Every relationship has its ups and downs and ours is no exception. But each bump in the road we encountered we overcame, coming out stronger both individually and together as a couple. That pull I was feeling was the pull of finding my soul mate. Knowing this made me realize if I ever gave up on us I would miss out on something truly amazing.