As a young woman attempting to find my way, I moved from Iowa to Kansas City where I worked a full-time job, part-time job, and went to school full-time at UMKC. Having no family in the area, I would occasionally make the 60-minute drive to Fort Scott, KS to spend time with the Albright clan. On one such day in the spring of 2007, I found myself having a discussion with Barb Albright about love. She asked me to describe my dream man, to which I spouted off a list of desires so long that many of the traits seemed contradictory to one another. After listening to my heart's desire, Barb simply said, "Well, I know him."

Within weeks, I was introduced to Bob Goltra at Rusty's in Fort Scott. I immediately thought he was the most handsome man I'd ever seen, and he asked me out on a date to the Royals game the following week. I think we both were undeniably smitten with each other, but we quickly realized that our life circumstances would make a serious relationship impossible (long distance, stages in life, etc). Bob drove me home from Kauffman and walked me to my door, gave me a kiss and said, "Call me when you're ready." Then he walked back to his truck and I never heard from him again.

Never again, that is, until seven years later when I saw his profile pop up on LinkedIn through our mutual connection, Barb Albright. Shortly after we became "Connections" on LinkedIn, Bob sent me a message congratulating me on earning my masters degree. I thanked him, and that was the end of that.

Months later, I found myself contemplating life and what I should do next. I picked up my phone to see what kind of job opportunities were out there, and discovered that Bob had just looked at my LinkedIn profile. I decided to send him a message and ask him if he remembered our final conversation all those years earlier. He replied, "Call me when you're ready"... Then jokingly changed it to, "LinkedIn me when you're ready," and the conversation took off from there. Weeks later we met at a Royals game, and became fast friends.

Our reconnection took no time at all, and we quickly realized that our lives had separately steered each of us to a place where we were now perfect for one another.

Bob proposed to me on January 3, 2016 after spending an amazing day at a Chiefs game.... A day, like many, where we found ourselves making the same comments and jokes at the exact same time. He is my best friend, and I look forward to spending the rest of my life as his wife.

#teamgoltra
#blessed