I have found the one whom my soul loves

I found Mrs. Francis...those were the very words that were uttered by Dr. Anna King while in the first 10 seconds of a phone conversation that was held by she and I. Such an accusation was laughed off and met with no desire to entertain because I was consumed with work while striving to be the best father that I could possibly be. A little over a year goes by and I received another random call from Dr. King. "I've found Mrs. Francis".. were the very words she once again poured into my ear while in the first 10 seconds of our conversation. The redundant statement was met with the same response. It wasn't until a random evening in July, I was overwhelmed with the desire to seek clarity through prayer. Though accomplishing some of the things that I've set out to do, a sense of fulfilment was consistently absent. An absence that appeared to be out of the reach of a salary, a job title, an athlete's success, or anything that was of materialistic value. While driving to a track meet, I received a text from Dr. Anna King that "Mrs. Francis" would be at her house that Saturday evening. It was in this moment I felt as though God was reminding me that one should never ask for anything he/she is not ready for. My constant prayer was to seek peace. My travel obligations didn't discourage Dr. King from accomplishing her agenda. She then sent me Alex's information. I shortly reached out to Alex, but due to the wrong number, we failed to initially connect. When Dr. King learned of the matter, she arrogantly says "hold on...let me work my magic". Within 24 hours of our phone conversation, I received a text message from a series of numbers that I have now learned is worth more than any winning lottery ticket. On July 26, 2016, I received a text that stated "Hey, this is Alex Wilkerson. Anna King gave me your number. She said you tried to text me." On July 26,2016, I was contacted by God's greatest gift, my peace. Since then, I've never let go...and here we are.

June 1st, 2017 was the last day of school and my last work day of the school year. It was bitter sweet because I knew that was the last time I would be working with the family I created at Prairie Vista Middle School. Sanaa and I would be moving to Frisco, Texas to be with Tony and Amira. I was going along with all the festivities the last day of school brings, when my principal, Dr. King, came to my room and told me that I would be monitoring students in the cafeteria for a lip sing competition during lunch. When I got down to the cafeteria, I did exactly what was asked of me. Music starts playing and the kids start singing. Everything seemed normal. The next song began to play and my ears where instantly engaged. It was MY song, well, OUR song- Brian McKnight's "Never Felt This Way". I immediately turn to my coworkers and tell them that this is "my song", and ask why they chose to play this song. As soon as I turn my head, I see Rowdy the Coyote, our school mascot, walking towards me holding a poster with words written on it. It was in that moment, that I tied everything together and realized what was happening. As I burst into tears, I ran to Dr. King in disbelief. At this time, kids are out of their seats, standing on tables with their phones out, trying to get a better view of what is about to happen. After reading all the posters that Rowdy was holding, he then removed his costume to reveal himself. It was my Tony, with the biggest smile on his face. The kids and staff went crazy with screams of excitement. Tony got on one knee and told me, "I got you, I told you that from day one", "I'm not leaving you", and his final words, " will you marry me?". My heart racing, tears flowing from my eyes, I said, "yes". After hugging and kissing on my new fiancé, he then directed my attention to my Mom, sister, and daughters Sanaa and Amira, as well as his mom, dad, and sister that had come to share this moment with us. This proposal was more than I could've imagined.