Do you believe in the invisible string theory? The idea or notion that your person is inadvertently tied to you in life and you'll find each other when you are ready to? That you may have passed each other multiple times in life, not quite ripe enough to experience the love you both may one day share? I like to think that our story is a bit like that.

You see, Kyle and I have been in each others life since we were teenagers. I met him when he was 15 years old and had a geeky crush on my cousin. They grew up as best friends and even though there was mutual love, it was more kinship than relationship. At that time, I was with who I thought was my person as well. Hindsight is 20/20 and Kyle was then my videographer at my first wedding 3 years later. (Talk about strange!) There he was, taping my walk down the aisle and thinking to himself, 'Wow, she's an amazing person.'

No, literally, I'm not just being self-absorbed. I have video proof of this as he records himself telling me how great I did at putting my entire first wedding together and how proud he was. I found this video, years later and after my divorce, watching this man appreciate and see me more in that moment than my ex-husband did at the time.

Perspective can be life-altering. 2022, (or season one) however, was not. Kyle and I tried to see where this went then. But between a recent divorce and a little growing up to do, we just weren't ready and God knew that. I like to think he was hinting to us just a little. Like, 'Psst, hey! It's still cooking, but give it time. It'll be amazing when you're ready.'

And then comes what we like to call Season Two. There I am, in a bar, celebrating my friends birthday and he's back. Handsome and so weird, he is! Irresistible to my own kind, is more like it. I can recall telling someone to make sure I kept my distance for fear of starting something I wasn't sure I could finish. Kyle loves hard. It's in his nature. He sees beauty and actually appreciates it. He sees something growing and nurtures it. And that... scared me at first. I wasn't used to that intense type of love. I had my walls built 2 feet thick around my heart.

We saw each other again at a family arranged D&D night. I asked for his number again and I tested the waters. Asked if we were still friends after all that time. He welcomed me back with open arms. And you'll never guess, but he offered his hand out too. He invited me to the state fair on the very last day to go.

It was amazing! It was a great time, with belly laughs, great food and subtle flirting. And to end the night, it started to down pour! Just out of a RomCom, we're running to his car. I'm in hysterics, laughing, crying, soaked to the bone. We get into his car, silent, look at each other... and crumble into laughter again! It was one of the best days that I had had in that moment, in a long time. I'll never forget it.

This is when something inside me started to tug in the direction of this man. Without hesitation, or second guessing, he was the first person I asked to help watch me and take care of me after my gallbladder surgery. It came as a surprise to most everyone in my family. But I never doubted that he was the person for the job. He cared for me, fed me and even assisted me to the bathroom a few times. This man that I had ended it with a few years prior, still had it in his heart to ensure my needs were met and taken care of during one of my most vulnerable moments. It was terrifying to feel my walls starting to break down. I could the foundation of them weakening. But my mind was still a fortress.

This is probably something we’ll go back and forth on for years, maybe even when were old and gray. But for the record, I didn’t technically invite him on the Florida trip. All I said was that it might be worth it to come, since both of his closest friends were going. And he did—he came with us. The trip itself? Honestly, it felt cursed from the start. There were so many signs that none of us should’ve gone, and yet… it was also beautiful. The weather was perfect, the nights were full of laughter, and we were surrounded by some truly great people. But when you put six very different personalities in the same space for an entire week, things are bound to unravel a bit. I’ve always been someone who needs time and space to sit with my thoughts and feelings—especially when it comes to someone like Kyle. I was figuring things out in my own quiet way, which didn’t exactly align with the pace or expectations of others. In the end, Kyle and I didn’t end up together—not in Florida, at least. Especially not after the accident that wrecked both cars, mine and my brother's and left us stranded, nine hours from home, in an entirely different state. It was chaos. It was clarity. It was both.

The wreck was one of the worst I've been in to date and I was injured in it. Again, this man attended to my needs and sat by my bedside in the hospital as we were waiting to find out if I had seriously injured or concussed myself. He calmed my anxiety and reassured me in my worries about everyone else and getting home. More cracks happened in those walls. And for the first time, I wanted to be a better person. I wanted to treat him better than I had before.

Anger runs in my family and it is a heavy weight to bear. But Kyle's love and thoughtfulness and compassion was lighter. And it made the anger easier to carry and it made me want to work on those emotions, dive deeper to figure out the cause. He and I have always been great at communication and that's where this love of ours grew. In the shared understanding that we would always try to listen and comprehend what the other was saying and feeling.

Weeks after the disaster ending to that trip, we flourished. Messages turned into phone calls, phone calls into FaceTimes. Offers to dates turned into nights spent together. Until he got the call to leave for the Coast Guard... two whole months earlier than he was supposed to. And those feelings that were buried just underneath the surface, they burst. Because I realized I didn't have the time I wanted to bring them out, it needed to be now. December 16th, I admitted to him that I was in love with him and December 17th, he walked out of my house to go serve our country. 3 whole months went by on letters alone and one or two lucky phone calls. We had been used to talking for hours day in and day out and then nothing. It was extremely difficult.

When I knew his graduation date, there was no doubt in my mind that I would be there. I had never flown before, had actually sworn that I would never in my life. But love will make you do anything. And so there I was, traveling completely alone, flying on two separate planes to get close to the man who made my heart feel big and non-burdensome.

Proud doesn't even come close to what I felt as I saw him in his blues standing in his formation. My throat sore from cheering. My cheeks aching from smiling. His proud parents with me as we finally got to hold him in our arms again and know he was safe and survived that basic training. Knowing I would lose him all over again in a week, but also knowing that we were strong enough to get through it together.

Months and months of Facetime and Teams. Months and months of filling the void that comes with not being together physically. Minor misunderstandings from text messages, hard days with big emotions, and lots and lots of 'I miss you's'.

May 23rd, 2025, Kyle proposed to me. Being communicators, we knew this was the direction we were going, but he truly did surprise me on that day. It was perfect and indescribable. And the look on his face as he asked me to spend the rest of his life with him? Magical.

Want to know the craziest part to our whole story? 15 and 18 years old is not when we officially met. No, we were 7 and 10! We discovered that we both went to the same Salvation Boys and Girls club in 2008. Who knows how many times we ran into each other or played a game together? Invisible string theory BOOM!

Love can come at you fast, but it can also come at you slowly and unexpectedly. It can announce its arrival as it crosses through the door to your heart and yet it may take a few weeks for your mind to catch up to it. But when you are aware of its presence, it lights up the room and saturates the colors of your surroundings. Life just becomes.... easier, when you know you have someone to share it with. I could not have imagined anyone else to spend my future with than Kyle Sowder.

I love you, sweets.

P.S. Don't close doors that God is keeping open.

“Love is patient, love is kind and is not jealous; love does not brag and is not arrogant, does not act unbecomingly; it does not seek its own, is not provoked, does not take into account a wrong suffered, does not rejoice in unrighteousness, but rejoices with the truth; bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.”

‭‭1 Corinthians‬ ‭13‬:‭4‬-‭7‬ ‭NASB1995‬‬