Ways I am not like Elizabeth Bennet:
- I do, in fact, consider myself a great reader. Call me conceited. Whatever.
- I only have two younger sisters and neither of them ran away with a penniless, morally bankrupt militia man. (Although, they both are married.)
- My mother is a delight and never complains about her nerves, even when I’m sure they’re bothering her.
- I have never been subjected to awkward conversation with a haughty dance partner.
I’ve been attempting to write this post for about a month now, and I’ve given up on the perfect way to announce this, so I’m just going to go for it, and you all can email me for any clarifications you would like.
Jesse and I dated several years ago. He broke up with me, and I was heartbroken. I finished an M.A., took an adjunct position, got a job in software and found my feet in the adult world. He moved home to his parents, went back to school, became involved in his church and focused on his relationship with God. We stayed in touch. This past summer, we started spending more time together, he visited my church, we rebuilt our friendship.
Shortly before Christmas, Jesse called my dad and drove down to talk to my parents about moving our relationship to an official level. Or, I guess I should say, back to an official level.
We are, and have been, first and foremost, very good friends. We are still learning to navigate, again, the complications of aligning two lives, the compromises and the trust it requires. Where are we going from here? We’ll see.
I understand that this may seem different from the outside than it does from where I stand. Know that there was much discussion, prayer and thought before we got to the point where he went back to my parents. This may not be entirely how I envisioned my life, but, as a friend of mine said, we are a people of redemption, and I am content.
We have spent the last month introducing him to my new brother-in-law and my charming and brilliant nephew, reacquainting him with the quirks of my family’s get-togethers. (Arguments about Don McLean songs, stories about catching that raccoon under the back patio via barbed wire, eight bajillion pictures of Asher hamming at the camera.) We travelled hundreds of miles over Christmas between our respective families. We have been cooking, playing games, and sitting in silence reading. But most of all, we have been thanking God for a second chance, for the changes He worked in us that brought us back together.


