our love story begins here...
brandon & i met when we were both 13 years old. we were both counselors at our churches' kids camp. brandon was from arkansas & i was from louisiana. i had a boyfriend at the time.. and brandon had a crush on me. and me, being the faithful girlfriend that i was, had no interest in another man. i was so in love at age 13, don't you know?! baaaaaaaaaahahaha! yea, right. who am i kidding? anyways, brandon had such a big crush on me to the extent of him picking up my trash (i accidentally littered & dropped a strawberries & cream creamsaver wrapper on the ground) & a ripped out sheet of notebook paper that had my team number (5) written on it and took it back home with him. what's one man's trash is another man's treasure, right? before camp ended, we exchanged phone numbers and addresses. that's what you do on the last day of camp.
so we went our separate ways. we wrote each other via snail mail. we exchanged pictures. we chatted on msn messenger.
we spoke on the phone here & there. we saw each other a few times that year at our churches' youth camp or rallies. the pastors (adult, children, or youth pastors) grew up together & our churches were involved in the same activities. the next summer rolled around. would you know it that i didn't have a boyfriend at the time? remember the one that i thought i was in love with the summer before? yea, well, no boyfriend. but oh goodness! brandon had a girlfriend this time! and i had a crush on him.
and this was the trend... for about 7 years. we still spoke to each other on messenger. as we grew older, we kept up with each other's lives on xanga & live journal. when i liked him, he had a girlfriend. when he liked me, i had a boyfriend. and factor in the long distance. it just didn't seem like this was gonna happen between us.
in september 2005, brandon moved from arkansas to brooklyn, new york to work for an inner-city children's ministry with his pastor (from arkansas). at some point, brandon mentioned that i should come to new york & help out with the ministry's christmas program. i had always wanted to visit new york. so i begged my parents to let me go. of course, my younger brothers tagged along because my parents were
before my december trip, i knew i seriously liked him again. like whoa?! seriously liked. brandon treated me to a night out at carnegie hall to listen to handel's messiah.. and a friend, andrew, tagged along. after carnegie hall & chinatown, we went back to where brandon was staying/dropped andrew off. brandon took me to the roof & i was just in awe of the lights that made up the majority of new york. we watched the numerous amount of planes arriving and departing the airports. it was just beautiful.
as brandon was walking me back to where i was staying, he said something to the likes of "blah, blah, blah, i like you, jess. blah, blah, blah". and my heart started to beat rapidly. i was thinking, "like me as a friend, or like me as more than a friend. what did he mean by that? he's said that a million times before. do i ask him what he meant? no, don't jump the gun. but what if i never find out? don't put your heart out there, jess. etc." my mom always taught me to never go chasing after boys, to let them do the chasing... to never put my heart out there because what if the guy cannot meet me where i am emotionally, you know? so i finally got the courage & ask "do you like me as a friend or more than a friend?"... i was scared to hear what he may say. luckily for me, he said he liked me as more than a friend. so that sunday night, we made a promise that we would not date other people.. and we would see how things went, especially now that we were thousands of miles away. we made a promise to see each other within the next 6 months & then we'll discuss if we can handle a long distance relationship.
i went back home a happy girl. it looked like things were looking up & that the stars were finally aligning. actually, i think God was showing us what he had meant to happen all along the way. at some point after my trip, brandon & i were on the phone & he had mentioned that it will be a sad day when we are no longer able to be best friends. you know, when you get married, it's not really kosher/right to have a best friend of the opposite sex. my heart stopped & i was so heartbroken with this realization that one day that would happen. i didn't want that to happen. brandon had been such a big part of my life for so many years. i told him that there was only one way that we could remain best friends. i'm not sure if he took my hint. maybe he did because we are now married.
in late january/early february 2006, i scheduled my next new york trip for april. in march, i postponed & rescheduled my trip for june due to my mom being super sick & battling stage 4 gastric-esophogeal cancer. on may 1st, about 1 am, brandon told me i should think about being his girlfriend. so i asked "are you asking me or what?".. so in the wee hours of the morning, i finally became brandon's girlfriend. geesh! it took long enough. on may 8th, my beautiful mother & best friend passed away after a year & half battle with cancer. brandon flew into dallas from new york on wednesday night, drove 4 hours to his hometown, woke up thursday morning, drove 2 hours to make it in time for my mom's funeral, 15 minutes after the cemetery gathering & a quick hug & meeting some of my family & friends, he drove 2 hours to mississippi to catch his flight back to new york. at that moment, i knew i loved him. actually, i already knew that. i knew i wanted to marry this guy.
i went to new york in june. and one night, while riding the staten island ferry, brandon professed his love to me. it was so magical. ha! actually, he said "i love you, jess." and i said "yea? good. i love you, too." you know, the whole don't put yourself out there kinda thing? the next day, while walking through central park & lagging behind a few friends, brandon said "you know i intend on making you my wife, right?".. and i said "yea? okay. good." so we talked about me going back & breaking my dad's heart & telling him that i found the man i was going to marry.. the man that was going to take me away from him. i was so dreading that part. but i did it. have i mentioned yet that my dad had never met brandon? well, talk about intimidating. so when i got back home, i told my dad of our plans. in late july 2006, brandon flew down. met my dad on tuesday & asked for his blessing & my hand in marriage. and we got engaged on july 27, 2006. brandon moved to albuquerque, new mexico in october 2006. we had a beautiful wedding on may 19, 2007, surrounded by our closest friends and families.
and that's when our life together began.
