On the Cover: A Date with Destiny
Destiny seems to be an ongoing theme in my life. For instance, when I was 8 years old, it felt like fate when my parents bought an adorable little cabin on Mullett Lake, located about 35 miles south of the Mackinac Bridge. I remember stepping onto the dock and looking out at the soothing waves and golden sunset, thinking, “Wow! This place is amazing!” I felt like the luckiest kid on the planet to be able to spend my childhood summers on that lake.
Destiny’s magic waved its wand once again nine years later when I first laid eyes on Eric. Not that I viewed it as destiny at the time. I was merely a 17-year-old girl doing the typical, two-second teenage assessment of the boy standing in front of me.
“Adorable,” I thought. “Cute body. Kind eyes. Sweet laugh.”
I soon learned that Eric was perfect in all ways but one. He was a student at Purdue University while I was a born-and-bred, white-and-red Hoosier, all set to attend Indiana University — Purdue’s rival school located over two hours away.
Despite our collegiate differences, Eric and I became great friends and dated for several months. But long-distance romance proved to be too challenging for two young college kids, so we called it quits. We did, however, remain friends, and through the years we wrote each other about the big events in our lives. Or so we thought.
During one particularly revealing e-mail exchange, we learned that we were both, once again, single — and living within 40 miles of each other. Here we were, 15 years later, and it seemed that once again destiny had intervened. We began dating and this time, the fact that Eric was a Purdue grad didn’t bother me (OK, maybe a little). But he was still adorable.
As a teenager, I had brought Eric up to my family’s Michigan cabin, where he, too, had fallen in love with the area and all it had to offer — boating, swimming, skiing, and of course, kissing (we were, after all, teens).
So I was touched in May 2008 when Eric proposed to me in the very spot where we had kissed as teenagers. We were lying in the hammock, wrapped in each other’s arms, watching the sun set over the water when Eric asked me to be his wife. Acting like a love-struck teenager, I squealed, cried and giddily gasped, “Yes!”
A year later, Eric and I were back at the lake, this time for our wedding on July 18, 2009. We planned an intimate sunset ceremony on the dock with just a handful of family and friends watching from the shore. As the processional music began to play, Eric and his best man stood by the water while I started down the concrete path, with my dad on one arm and my 5-year-old son Kyler on the other. Eric greeted me by the shoreline and walked me out onto the dock where we exchanged personal vows.
“Who would have thought we would be standing here today?” Eric said tearfully as he linked his trembling hands with mine. “The word ‘destiny’ means, ‘the predetermined, usually inevitable or irresistible, course of events.’ Destiny has brought us here today. Time, distance, and circumstances could not withstand our destiny.”
I, too, mentioned fate in my wedding vows when I told Eric, “I often think how lucky it is that we found our way back into each other’s arms. But deep down, I know luck had nothing to do with it.
It was divine intervention. So I don’t feel lucky to have you standing here next to me, but rather blessed beyond measure. I look forward to blending our lives, sharing our dreams, and growing in our love every day.”
During the months following our wedding, Eric and I talked about whether or not we had the time, energy, and financial resources to expand our family. It’s such a big decision, and to be frank, I’m pretty horrible at making life-changing decisions. I think that’s partly why destiny seems to make them for me.
And this brings me to my most recent dance with destiny. Over Thanksgiving break, just four months after Eric and I tied the knot, we found out that we were expecting. Boilermaker + Hoosier = Baby Hoosiermaker. Wow. Who knew?
I guess fate did.
Up North Bride Home » Spring & Summer 2010 Edition » On The Cover: A Date with Destiny