The Evalists

I grew up in Texas, and he lived in Cleveland. He was my first boyfriend, my first love, and we were just kids, 15 yrs old full of hope, sharing a love story that existed across the miles. We dated for a year when we were 15, but eventually life pulled us in different directions, and we stopped talking. For nearly eight years, there was complete silence between us. In 2020, my parents moved to Cleveland, while I remained in Texas to go to College. When I returned to Cleveland for my sister’s funeral. What began as a trip home during one of the most heartbreaking seasons of my life became something far more significant. Grief brought me to Cleveland, and once I was there, I felt an overwhelming sense that I was not meant to leave. After the funeral, I spent a great deal of time in prayer and reflection. I ultimately ended the relationship I was in because I felt God making it clear that he was not the person I was meant to spend my life with. A few months later, after nearly eight years apart, my first love and I found our way back to each other. It all began when I posted a video on Instagram, and he recognized familiar faces in the background. He reached out to ask if I was in Cleveland, and when I told him I was, a conversation that started with a simple question became the beginning of our second chance at love after years of silence. This time, we were no longer teenagers. We took things slowly and intentionally, learning who we had become through the years apart. The connection we once shared had not disappeared, it had matured. After six months of dating, he gave me a promise ring on February 17th, a beautiful symbol of the future we were building together. Then, on February 7th, just a few days after Valentine’s Day, he proposed. And I said YESSS!! I was shocked, but more than that, I felt an incredible sense of peace. In that moment, I thought about every prayer I had whispered in the dark, every tear I had cried, and every time I had asked God to guide my path. While I was still carrying the pain of losing my sister and navigating a season of profound grief, God was quietly writing a story I could never have imagined. Looking back now, it feels as though every chapter, the distance, the silence, the heartbreak, the loss, and the waiting, led us back to one another. What once seemed impossible became reality. And through it all, I have come to understand the truth of; 1 Corinthians 13: love is patient, love is kind, and love never fails.