When Two Become One

Once upon a hot summer sun, I remember vividly standing in CVS stocking the laundry detergent. Our district had just undergone realignment, and my boss was making rounds with his crew. Alysses was part of his crew; this was the first day I met her. That day was just a meet and greet, but little did I know what the future held. Months later, she was leading a project at work, and I offered to assist her. During that time, my friend and I joked about asking her about a date. I still had the juice, and I knew it. “ Wanna go get drinks?” That is how that started. Though I stood her up at the night's end and went home. Who knew that was the first but not the last time I did that? At the end of February 2022, I decided to seriously ask Sing Sing on a date. I had found her Facebook account and saw she was single; now I was trying to see if she wanted to Christian mingle. She wanted to go to Thirteen, and I had on CVS gear. A brother had to change now. By the way, we went Dutch when the bill came. We began talking about how God was the center of our upbringing, and at that moment, I was down for her. The more time spent together, we became inseparable. At the time, I wasn’t looking for a relationship, and what I loved the most was finding my best friend. I then took Alysses on a real date. I drove from Pearland to Egypt to get this girl, and of course, we tipped on 84’s to Eddy V’s. Chivalry isn’t dead; I open doors for the women in my life. We get to the restaurant, and the check comes. It said something about an Oscar. I told the waitress she had steak, not Oscar. Well, $500 later, I was glad to make it out of there. Our first year of knowing each other was filled with great memories and some rollercoasters. There was never a doubt about how we made each other happy, and I struggled with accepting that. The year was ending, and we had taken a break from each other. I saw Alysses during a store visit months later, and it was awkward yet refreshing. A situation occurred at work, and I had to reach out to Alysses for help. “Wow, GOD, you sure know how to humble someone.” From that day, we began to text again, and before long, she was on my hotline bling. What I respect the most is that even through the pain I caused, she continued to pray for me. I asked her to officially be my girlfriend because I wasn’t about to be a fool again. God is the foundation of our commitment to each other, he supplies everything we need, and his presence helps our children navigate growing up in this world. On Nov 30th, we were supposed to go on a hiking trip. Let’s just say we didn’t make it to the cabin. Somehow, we ended up in Cancun. If anyone knows me, I’m cheap and have five stars on Airbnb. However, on this trip, let me tell you, I pulled the rabbits out of the hat. We landed ourselves at an all-inclusive resort. Room service, free food, the whole nine. It was close to Alysses' birthday, so I just played it as an early birthday trip. We had such a relaxing and enjoyable time. December 3, 2023, was our last day at the resort, and we went to a few Cenotes for the 1st time together. Being with the love of my life, my best friend, my everything, and exploring the nature God created warmth in my heart. I booked dinner reservations for the best seafood steakhouse on the resort the first night we arrived. I met a few people, and I speak a little Spanish, so I was able to coordinate a special evening. We arrived back from our adventure tired and had an hour to nap, Alysses can sleep. I almost had to drag her out of bed to be on time for our reservation. Dinner was good, but I had to “pee”. While out of Alysses’s sight, a premium dessert was prepared, and inside the strawberry was placed a diamond ring. As she thought it was a birthday dessert coming, she saw the ring; I grabbed it and fell to one knee. Tú erẽs mi persona, I spoke in Spanish. She didn’t know what I said, but she said yes, now The Taldo Experience has commenced.