By Sandra Allison (Sammy Kate)
Honestly? I didn’t.
Even though I prayed-no, yelled- for God to send me my angel, I had no idea what “the one” would actually look like. My expectations were… let’s just say, aspirational. I mean, I’m no Charlize Theron. I’m more of a mash-up between Sandra Bullock, Sarah Michelle Gellar, and Betty Boop. So expecting a Brad Pitt or George Clooney was a tad unrealistic.
That said, the douche I dated before my husband? Not even close. He was somewhere between Fred Flintstone, Barney Rubble, and Dopey Smurf. You get the visual.
I met my husband in the most unconventional way. I was his son’s first grade teacher. (Yes, he was divorced.) After I finally dumped the Smurf, my now-husband asked me if I’d like to have dinner sometime. My first thought? Absolutely not. That felt way too boundary-crossing. So I asked my mom what she thought.
Her answer? “It’s dinner. You don’t have to marry him!”
Fair point. And who doesn’t love a good free meal?
On our first date, he was way too nice. Like-suspiciously nice. Major red flag. Being “too nice” usually has an expiration date. Then he took me to an outlandish restaurant on Palm Beach Island. Second red flag. Trying too hard.
And THEN-oh, then-he told the waitress he was going to marry me one day. That I didn’t know it yet, but he did.
Excuse me, what?
If Uber had existed back then, I would’ve ordered one mid-meal. This man broke every “what not to do on a first date” rule and somehow still had me going home with butterflies. I tried to shut that feeling down fast.
I agreed to a second date, convinced he’d finally prove my theory on men (especially divorced dads) right.
But he didn’t.
In fact, he got nicer. And less embarrassing. Third date? Same. Fourth? Still no red flags. Tenth? I started panicking. When was the shoe going to drop?
Spoiler alert: it never did.
Twenty-one years later, I’m still in love with my best friend. Sure, we’ve had silly arguments. Screaming matches? Yup. That’s just being human. But never-not once-did his character falter.
To this day, he tells me I’m the most beautiful woman in the world. He still opens every door for me. Kisses my neck while I’m doing dishes. Fills up my gas tank without me asking. And we never go too long without reminding each other how much we love one another.
So no, I didn’t have that “easy knowing” that he was the one. But he did.
And every time he plays his lotto numbers, you better believe I follow.
The Empathetic Chronicles 