The night that Madison and I met, I was sitting in a booth downtown with my friends, and we were both with other people at the time. I was talking to my friends and people watching while sitting on the edge, facing the back of the bar, when I saw her pass me by. Unfortunately, she caught me giving her a glance (How could I not? Just look at those beautiful, big, round, perky….eyes, eyes), and let’s just say she was NOT amused. Little did I know, that I knew her boyfriend at the time , he would later introduce us before coming over to hang out. During which, there was an altercation, or two, that made her very uncomfortable. First, I do not like conflict and I have always been the one to dissolve situations such as this, and second, I wanted to make sure that she was comfortable and able to drive home if she were to leave. I told her boyfriend I would talk to her to help her calm down (he was not helping, obviously it didn’t work out) because they had been arguing, and she was crying in her car. While we talked I was able to help her calm down and stop crying, but I still remember the way her eyes shined in the dark, and I knew right then and there that whatever was going on, it wasn’t right for her. So I made sure I got her number so she could tell me when she got home and also so she could let me know if she needed anything. Also I may or may not have asked her out but that’s here nor there. Over the next few days she did let me know she was okay, and then I didn’t hear from her for a few weeks. When she did contact me again I was no longer in a relationship, but that was not the case for her. I became increasingly concerned for her so I decided to keep in contact anyways. It took another few weeks, but eventually she did finally break up with him and kick him out, and I knew she was alone, so I invited her to hang out. I must admit, I was still surprised when she walked in the door. I honestly didn’t expect her to show up, and I was even a little nervous. After a little while we all piled up in the Fiat 500 I was driving at the time and we went back to the house to play Mario Kart. When we got a chance to be alone she vented and cried some more, and she told me more about her ex, and I comforted and held her. At this point I didn’t have the intention to start a serious relationship, I knew I liked her, but there was a lot of growing that I had to do before I was ready for the life that we have now. Over the next few months we spent more and more time together, we had dinner together multiple times a week, we even knew each other’s work schedules. There was just one problem, she was leaving, and I didn’t want a long distance relationship again. When she took her first contract, I thought that would be the last time that I would see her. A few weeks into her contract, my friends and I went to Seattle for a wedding. While I was there, the more I thought about it, I wanted to be with Madison SO bad, that only seeing her every two weeks was better than never seeing her again. I still didn’t know that we would be where we are today, but I knew that I wanted to find out. I didn’t know if the distance would ultimately be our demise, but I knew I wanted to figure it out with her, and only her. So the last night in Seattle, I decided to call her at work, and tell her how I felt. I was walking up and down the halls of the hotel, the stairwells, and the lobby for hours telling her everything. I missed her so much I couldn’t sleep, everyone else had dozed off long ago, but there I sat in the elevator lobby with Madison from across the country hoping she still felt the same. Today I am the luckiest man in the world, and every day I’m thankful that she picked up the phone at work that night.