College Girl Meets Southern Boy ~ part 5

One Sunday changed my world.

The first time I saw Mr. Dorsey was in church. My dad was the new pastor and I was singing in the choir. I saw Gina sitting in the pew and next to her was a good looking guy I had never seen. I remember thinking,“Where did Gina find him?”



There had been lots of nice and nice looking guys in college. I had dated a few and even thought I had found “the one” a couple of times.


But since moving to this small Georgia town, I had seen nary a fellow that I might even be slightly interested in.


After church I made it my business to find out about the good looking stranger. Turned out he and Gina were just friends and he worked for her brother-in-law. "Yay!"


And Gina and his sister were friends. And I again I say, “Yay!”


He called a few days later and asked me on a date. He suggested the fair.


When I think back to those days of dating, I almost let a couple of really silly things become “deal breakers.”


Things that are so insignificant in the face of real love.


Things that do not make the radar screen when the two of you have, together, faced down trials, disease, accidents, death.


What were the some of the attractive qualities I saw in Mr. Dorsey?


Here are just a few:


Christ follower
Handsome
Kind
Athletic




What was it that kept me from focusing on nit-picking deal breakers?


He loved me. He really loved me. He loved me for me. He valued me. He never tried to make me into a different kind of person. He already loved the me I was.
(Before meeting him, others I had dated seemed to want me to be like someone else. I never felt completely enough as I already was. And maybe that is when you know you have found the right one. He loves the you, you already are.)


We’ve been through tragedy. We’ve clung tightly to each other through it. I fell in love with him all over again as I watched him tenderly care for Andrew. He tended to him as a shepherd for a lamb. I watched. My heart swelled. And then my heart broke. And Mr. Dorsey, my husband, caught the pieces in his hands.


One Sunday my world changed.




We took Andrew to an art show Spring '09. He took this picture.



Our Family ~ Ski Trip '07