We have a wild complicated story and it is hard to believe a country girl from Missouri would meet and fall for a boy from California. Troy had been traveling full time for years and decided to come to Kansas City in May 2023 to be closer to his maternal family and maybe take over the family pool building business. The past 3 years Troy was traveling and had also been a life coach. His main focus was relationships and dating. While continuing to work with his clients he spent time checking out the family business. He heard that here in the Midwest Facebook dating was king. He decided to try it to learn the local landscape and hone his craft. He was actually planning on returning to California as things with the business were not ideal, then as fate would have it he ran into me.

Our first interaction was July 23, 2023 and resulted in a 5 hour phone converation and I had so many questions about so many things. I had just recently joined Facebook Dating as I hadn’t had a relationship in almost 30 years and was curious what he could offer. He invited me to come to Kansas City so I could see what a really quality date would look like. Well he didn’t disappoint. From the moment we met I felt such a comfort and kindred spirit with him. I came back for a few weekends and we dated but also I was learning about so much and having a great time also. I fell in love with his charm, energy, intellect among other aspects. After 3 weeks he surprised me when he came out to Jefferson City so I could see what it would be like with a partner at home as I’d never lived with anyone that I was romantic with. He took care of the house cooking and cleaning and making great meals. I was also dating another man that I thought I liked. He helped me learn how to create boundaries, how to communicate more clearly, and advocate for myself. My nephew Jayden, whom I had raised since he was 1 liked him and they were thick as thieves, then tragedy struck.

The day he went back to Kansas City my mom died. He had called to let me know he made it home and that is when I received the call from the nursing home. He was also working a regular day job but offered to put that on hold to come back if I needed support. He’s lost a lot of people in his life and understood how hard that can be. I declined his offer but then it took me a few days to realize that I needed him to be here to help me through this. He dropped everything and drove all night to be with me. That Friday morning as he pulled into my driveway I cried because I knew I needed and wanted him to stay. Later that day I asked him to move to Jefferson City permanently and he accepted. We worked through the dealings with family, finances, friends and grief. It was rocky and wasn’t pretty but he cared about me so much and even fell in love with me too. He worked so hard to make sure I was happy and he helped me grow. In the end all I wanted was him and he decided the same about me.

I proposed to him on Christmas although I was a blubbering mess and he accepted. Now looking back at everything, sure there’s been drama with friends and family but there’s no one I’d rather spend time with than Troy. Almost everything has improved since he came into my life. I’m happier, my finances are more solid now that he helped me get out from supporting my family, my health is better from more exercise and better eating, even Jayden is happy and thriving in his new life.

What’s really interesting is coming from wildly different lives and yet we had so much in common. We both grew up wanting to be astronauts and then marine biologists. I even considered moving to Monterey California which is where he was born. We joke about how many times we may have crossed paths but it just wasn't the right time. We have very similar views on God and his role in our lives. What was really crazy though is I always wanted to travel the country and live the van life and thought I’d be doing that alone but I just happened to run into someone who not only could do it with me but wanted to. Looking from the outside we almost make no sense and it caused a lot of people to question what was going on and why he was here but if you could see us alone and how good we are to each other and how much we enjoy each others company it just all makes sense. Although our time together has been relatively short we feel like we have know each other for years. Plus if he messes up you’ll never find the body. Lol.