In Greek mythology, the Three Fates were goddesses tasked to assign individual destinies to mortals at birth. Portrayed as three spinners, each had a different task: Clotho spun the thread of life, Lachesis measured its length, and Atropos cut it off. Sometimes, each of the Fates was assigned to a specific period of time: Atropos, the past, Clotho, the present, and Lachesis, the future. On a cold and rainy January day, these three ladies began to weave our story. It was 2009, I was embarking on my final year of college, and despite the ongoing recession, I was a 22 year old girl filled with endlessly naive confidence and energy. Now that it was finally Friday, I realized I didn’t want to go home from work, I wanted to do something exciting and new but the cold, dreary January rain was maddening and before I knew it, I had impulsively veered off onto the narrow, gravel strewn road, feeling inexplicably drawn to the little white house with its neon glowing 'Fortune Teller' sign in the window, beckoning me to come inside away from the biting wind and gloom. “You will meet the man you will marry in March or May this year" said the woman who claimed to be a descendant of Romanian gypsies. I eyed the door and wondered what possessed me to seek out this foolishness, chastising myself for spending what little money I had, immediately regretting the decision. Yet there I was sitting with this strange woman, pointing to a card of a couple holding hands, telling me I’m about to meet my future husband.

“Oh?" I laughed at the preposterousness of such a thought, "tell me about him." She flashed me a sharp look of incredulous annoyance at my disbelief and replied, "trust me, the one that's coming your way is very handsome.” Excitedly, she exclaimed, “Even better, life will always be interesting with this one!” She continued but I stopped paying attention. I could feel my face turn red with embarrassment. I didn’t want to hear about relationships and I certainly had no interest in marriage. Hastily, I muttered a quick thank you before running out the house that had only moments ago seemed so alluring and appealing. Months later on a night out in March, having completely forgotten the reading with the fortune teller, I walked into a local bar and immediately noticed Daniel from across the room. Eventually losing sight of him as the crowd thickened, I turned my focus to my friend until later that evening as I was about to leave and unbeknownst to me, the Fates had a different plan. Pushing through the sea of people on my way out, I glanced down and noticed a loose thread at the hem of my favorite dress. As I groaned out of frustration, all it took was a moment of carelessness to cause me to bump into the man in front of me. He turned around and I realized it was the cute guy that caught my eye earlier! He immediately sent me a knowing smile with the thread at my hem, dangling and forgotten the second he said hello. I like to think the Three Fates had a hand on that serendipitous day long ago, gifting me with a small glimpse into my future. There were many times over the years, where Daniel and I both tried to cut the thread tying us together, but consequently with each failed attempt, have only managed to further entangle ourselves closer to one another, interlacing our stories into a singular piece of fabric and binding us to each other forever until the day death forces us to part.