Come Celebrate

That's life If we had more time We could live forever Just you and I We could be together - Time (You & I) - Khruangbin When P met C... It was a Wednesday night in the middle of June in Asheville, NC. Just a regular week day for me, I worked all day and had work the following morning, but an awesome band was in town. I had yet to see Khruangbin, though I was an avid listener and ecstatic at the thought of seeing them live. Little did I know that choosing to attend that concert would change my life forever. I met Charity Rae on the dance floor, and I wouldn't have it any other way. She was so beautiful that night and I loved her moves, don't even get me started on the accent - sheesh. Simple noticings, about as much as you can hope to gather in a dimly lit venue, were more than enough to reel me in. While dancing, she let me borrow her fun glasses and I thought that must be a hint, maybe she's diggin' me too. Though after dancing the night away together I accidentally walked off with said glasses and she left with her friends before I could return them. Thank goodness. Turns out she was visiting town on a bachelorette trip and would be in town for a few more days. Naturally, I HAD to return these glasses. We hung out again, and there was no looking back. We immediately got swept up in an unconscionably rapid current of infatuation and love. Some could call it crazy (and maybe rightly so) but the depth of the connection, the intentional communication, and the hilarity that ensued were all too perfect to ignore. We began to spend as much time together as possible, we had to see if this was too good to be true, or something more. We FaceTimed, we hung out, and this precious, little woman drove so many miles to see me many, many times over the summer while I was tied down caring for my aging and ailing father. She was with me every step of the way. We began venturing out, meeting more of each other's friends and family, assimilating more into each other's lives and communities. We took trips, went on adventures, talked and discussed anything and everything, realizing more and more everyday that we had found something truly special. I finally got a chance to visit her home in West Jefferson. Now you must know, since I had been working remotely, there was only one true course our lives could take in the short-term, and that was for me to move to be with her. She showed me around this cute little town, showed me where she grew up, where some of her favorite places were, and finally took me up to her favorite spot, a secret little escape that we accessed via golf cart that put us on a beautiful mountaintop with remarkable sunset views. After my brief visit, I was headed to work at a music festival in the Virginia Blue Ridge Mountains. Since I was working I was there a week early, and having just visited Charity in WJ I saw no reason not to make a trip back down to kill some time. I made my way back and that morning it all washed over me at once. I wanted to make this woman my wife. On the way back to her place, I stopped at a little jewelry store in Galax, VA. I knew she'd appreciate some effort and attention to detail in picking a ring, and that I bought it from a local store in a small town in the mountains, close to home. The ring I chose wouldn't be ready for another week. Uh-oh, I couldn't possibly spend this entire festival being the only one excited at the possibility of getting married, I wanted us to celebrate together. So in completely traditional fashion, I broke the news to her pre-ring and she was (not mad thank goodness) shocked, ecstatic, overcome with joy, as was I. We ended up having a wonderful weekend together dancing to all sorts of music in the mountains and being around friends old and new. When we returned to WJ afterwards, we took ourselves a ride back up to that mountaintop, right around sunset, and I asked this beautiful, clever, hilarious, shining gal to be my wife. I love you, Charity Rae.