We met at 5am at the Denver airport waiting for our flight back to STL. And for the not morning person I am this was rough to be awake for. Turns out we grew up 40 minutes apart and probably frequented some of the same places. I heard him talking about a doctorate and thought he was in med school and had possibly just had match day. I approached the cowboy (btw he has never dressed in cowboy gear since) and my introverted self started the journey. So I interrupted his conversation with some lady about drugging her grandson with Benadryl to get through the flight. Turns out he was a doctorate of nurse practitioner and studying for a test. He didn’t get to study any more after that. He claims I told him to sit in the seat next to me on the flight but I was ready to isolate myself and read my book. We talked for the whole flight and he eventually asked for my number. Go figure. I told my mom (after I told her I would never meet my husband at the airport) he was either going to be my husband or break my heart. Our first date was 10 hours long and the rest is history. 6 months later he proposed with a Harry Potter scavenger hunt through the spots of our first date and it was magical.

I met Kadi at the airport in the Southwest terminal at that 5am flight. I was pretty tired as I was on a couple hours of sleep and needed to get up early as I live in Cheyenne, Wyoming. My best friend can attest, I was not a happy camper coming to this flight so early and it being so last minute. As I made my way to the terminal I went and got myself a bottle of water to settle into studying for my pediatric assessment exam coming up. An elderly lady came over and asked how much medication to give her grandson to help him sleep through the flight. Kadi had overheard doctorate and thought I could be a medical doctor getting placed in the Fort Collins area. I told her not that doctor but a nurse practitioner getting their doctorate in nursing. From there we kept on talking and I didn’t get a lick of studying done. We actually had boarding numbers right next to each other as well as she helped me understand how Southwest works, never been on a Southwest plane before. After that, before the plane departed, I had to get her number there was just this gut feeling that I needed to get her number. It was very uncharacteristic of me to ask some other female for their number and there were some external circumstances that made it even more uncharacteristic. Fast forward after the first couple of dates I just had to ask her to be my girlfriend. I just knew there was something different in all the best ways. The ease of conversation flow, continuance of activities (first date was 10 hours), the comfort level, and just so much more. I ended up asking her to be my girlfriend after about three dates. Reflecting back when I was having a conversation with a CityLight pastor we had gotten onto the “just knowing” you found your soulmate. I never thought getting engaged after six months was a thing. I always imagined it took a couple of years before you could really know someone well enough to take that step. People would tell me, “When you know, you just know,” and honestly, I never believed them. I had never felt that kind of certainty before. Then I met her. Everything with her felt different, like I said above: easy, natural, and real. It wasn’t about time; it was about connection. Every conversation, every laugh, every quiet moment just fit effortlessly. That’s when I finally understood what everyone meant, you really do just know.