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The Love of a Lifetime That Took Time

As Told by : Paige, age 30

In 2000, while my brother and I were living in Charleston, South Carolina, several of his friends came to visit him. I was invited to dinner with everyone and took along my boyfriend at the time. We all ended up having a great time. But the evening for me was uneventful and I didn't give any of my brother's friends a second glance since I had a boyfriend.

A couple of years later, I was living in Asheville, North Carolina, and my brother once again invited me out to eat dinner with some friends. There was a guy named Gary there that had gone out with us that night in Charleston. Gary had just moved to Asheville so he and I were now living in the same town. Once again, I didn't really think too much about it, but thought he was a nice guy.

Over the course of the next year, I ran into Gary once or twice until finally in November of 2002 he invited me to dinner with a few of his friends. I wasn't sure what to think of the dinner. Was it a date? Was it just a friendly dinner? Who knew? Well the dinner went fine, his friends were nice but I didn't hear from Gary for a long time after that. I wasn't worried because, even though I did like him as a friend, I still wasn't really interested in dating him.

At some point in 2003, we reconnected again and started running and biking together since we both enjoyed those activities. We also started going to movies, eating out and going shopping - but believe it or not, we still weren't dating. I started thinking about how many times I had actually shared a meal with Gary, yet he was still not my boyfriend!

Gary's friends would constantly tell him that we should date but we were such good friends, he was afraid to mess that up. In November of 2004, something changed and we became more than friends. We are now married and have a beautiful daughter. I am not quite sure what made our relationship finally make the transition from a friendship to romance - or why it took so long to happen - but I am sure glad it did.

Wright from the Heart

Editorial by : Norma Leigh Wright

Paige’s story serves as a good reminder that sometimes falling in love takes time. These days, we are in such a hurry and don’t have much patience for anything that does not happen quickly. Especially with online dating, most people find themselves expecting to connect with one of their matches almost instantly. But it doesn’t always happen that way, as was the case here. Paige and Gary met on several occasions, and were friends for a long period of time before their romantic relationship took off.

Paige and Gary are also very good examples of how friendship before romance can work to an advantage in a relationship. Even though there wasn’t an immediate connection between the two of them, they got to know each other on a friendship level, which can be just as, if not more, important than getting to know someone more romantically. Paige and Gary were learning about each other and enjoying the companionship when stronger feelings between the two of them developed. It proves the point that you never know when and with who love is going to strike…..you might even discover that one of your best friends is your lifetime soul mate.

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