It was a Dark and stormy night... But the next day would change my life, that was the day I met the most beautiful person and her name is Karen. I had been working at the Lowes in Henderson, NC for about three months. This one day I walked into the breakroom and kindly said hello to the new person in the breakroom...but hole the presses, she made me do a double take, that smile and her eyes looking back at me, BEAUTIFUL, was the only thought in my head. That was the beginning of a great friendship lasting through our time dating, other relationships, me moving back to NJ, and the ups and downs that is life. A random day I called my friend to chat and she was not happy, in fact, she was heartbroken, so I listened. Over the next year we talked more and more. One day I called and let my heart speak and her heart answered, the feelings were still there for both of us. So I packed up and moved back to NC to be with my love!

It was a dark and Stormy Night...…jk It was December 1993 and I had just been hired by Lowes as a cashier. I was 16 years old and it was my first "Real" job. During Training on my first day I was sitting in the breakroom when this guy walked up the stairs to clock in. He saw me, said hello then did a double take and said "Oh Hello how you doin" in that thick Jersey accent. (I'm from a small town in NC so it all sounded like a thick jersey accent to me) Fast forward, we became friends, he liked me a lot but I "Friend Zoned" him as he puts it for a while. I even went out with his best friend and he started dating someone else. And THEN it hit me that I didn't like seeing him with anyone else! Maybe that meant I liked him more than I thought. So...we gave it a shot...and I loved him so much, But our timing was way off as we were in two different places. Fast forward, We broke up, we both moved on, we somehow ended up in an accident where my car bounced off his truck (and NO...despite popular opinion it was NOT on purpose) I moved to Raleigh, he eventually moved back to Jersey and over the next 20+ years we kept in touch here and there. You know, a birthday call here and a few visits back and forth ect… Meanwhile, Life had taken me down another path with someone I thought was forever. That wasn't the case and through a lot of heartache I realized I still had my bestfriend from all those years ago. He called to check in on me periodically and when the time was right, he called with a different intent. I will never forget that day, when he said "You know I still like you...like ALOTY" I said I felt the same and we took off from there almost 25 years from the day we first met. I went to visit and it was like no time had passed. I was smitten once again and knew right then that HE was always my forever. And here we go...on vthis lifelong journey we started back in 1993...not the end.....