Wild, stubborn, mischievous....lost...All of these words were often used to describe the young man I had become. Steadfast, ambitious, caring...perfect...All the words that flooded my mind the first time I saw her. She was different, different than any girl I had ever seen before. Every vision, idea, or drunken thought I ever had of who I was/wanted to be suddenly changed. All of these brilliant epiphanies happened in an instant...but in that same instant I had lost all courage to speak. "Shaft" was for once speechless. "Our Story" won't be the next Disney film, more like something starring James Franco, but it's as unique as our beautiful relationship.

We had two drastically different paths that lead us to each other. She played two years of college softball at LBWCC, and then transferred to a four year college, Troy University. I played two years of college football at Huntingdon College, and had to transfer home... She had achieved a Associates Degree with a 4.0 GPA all while working and playing a collegiate sport. In the same two years I had managed to drop more classes than I passed, sleep my way through the classes I happened to be enrolled in, and end everything I had ever worked for. She was getting ready to move out into the real world, and I was getting ready to move back in with my parents. I had fallen short of a dream that was as old as I was. Everything I identified myself as had been stripped away. I found myself in a dark, lonely place. My life violently spiraled out of control, as I tried to live two separate lifestyles. In trying to be everything everybody wanted me to, I had lost sight on who I really was. I felt lost, hopeless, and alone. That all changed on October 25th, 2014..

On October 25th, 2014 I was making my weekly trip to Troy for a Halloween party. After a night that was even more eventful than normal, the party proceeded to the trailer where I spent most of my weekends. The trailer was owned by three very important people in my life; the girl who let me copy her math homework everyday from 9th-12th grade, my high school best friend, and the girl who'd one day be my wife. Most weekends I was there Beth Anne would be back home. This weekend was different. Although she never went out, she decided to stay home this weekend....Little did she know she'd finally have a face to face with her future husband. As I stumbled in the trailer, my bladder was getting ready to burst. So I ran down the hallway, threw open the first door on the left, and was getting ready to finally use the restroom...and then I heard "excuse me"......The bathroom was the second door on the left...

So there I was, standing in front of a beautiful girl I barely knew, nearly mistaking her bed for the toilet. In my drunken state of mind I mustered up a "Sorry this isn't the bathroom" as if she was unaware. As the party continued in the living room, the need for toilet paper rang throughout the trailer. The need was only matched by the voices calling for it....And then I saw her...she was beautiful...she was perfect...she was everything I had ever wanted. It was instantaneous...I was in love. The way she carried herself and the compassion she had for people she didn't even know. She was everything I wasn't... Perfect... So perfect I again failed to find the courage to speak. Even as she walked back into her room, away from the circus that was her living room, her image was forever embedded in my brain. As the night progressed drunken thoughts finally turned into sober actions. I furiously cleaned the house of any throw up or casualties of the night, and though I couldn't bring myself to wake her up one more time, I left a note....

"To the beautiful women of this household, I am deeply sorry for all of the commotion this morning. Beth Anne, you are a saint and women like you are hard to come by.

Love Griffin."

Followed by a number I thought hopefully she would call.....though she never did. A week passedand all I could think about was the blonde haired, blue eyed girl I had been in the presence of. I talked peoples ears off about her. Every story ending in "I don't know, she's just different.." Finally I got the courage, I was going to do what every college-aged male would....I "slid into her DMs". Talk about a leap of faith..I messaged this girl who had already blatantly denied my first pass at her. Doubt turned into unmatched happiness as she replied "hey". Direct messages turned into text, text turned into calls. Calls turned into dates, and dates turned into a relationship. Somehow the boy who thought he had lost everything, had suddenly found everything he needed.

Almost 3 years later we still laugh at our story. God works in mysterious ways, God has a plan, and God is always good. He brought me Beth Anne when I was at my lowest point, because he knew she'd take me higher than I'd ever been. In every sense of the word, she saved me....