My friend decided it was time for me to "get back in the game" after an earth-shattering divorce. I added a few people on Facebook to appease her, but quickly deleted them all later that night -- or so I thought. Fast forward about a week later, I heart-reacted to a shared post on Facebook, and Ronnie messaged me soon after. Having just been through a horrible end to my last relationship and barely into my second pregnancy, I quickly dismissed him and told him I was damaged goods -- definitely not interested. I found out he had actually gone through a rough divorce, too. We became good friends, talked openly about the trauma we had, and we started healing together. Not long after, I invited him to a baseball game I had to cover for the newspaper I worked for, and after a few games, he met my daughter, too. On April 2, 2021, Ronnie drove me to Gatlinburg and Pigeon Forge, taking me anywhere and everywhere I wanted to go. We window shopped, with him going in stores behind me and buying things I said I liked before I had a chance to decline. He took me to his favorite bookstore in Pigeon Forge and bought me a fresh stack of prints to read. I was supposed to stay at a friends house in Middlesboro that night, but she decided to go out with friends and wasn't responding to my texts or calls. Since it was getting late, Ronnie paid for a hotel room, and before you get any ideas, he was a perfect gentlemen! He paid for a room with two beds, even offered to sleep in his car, but I told him no because it was cold. We spent the rest of the night in our respective beds, reading our new books before falling asleep. Ronnie took me to get breakfast the next morning before we headed back toward Harlan. We've stuck together ever since!