I was a second semester Junior at the University of Memphis, majoring in Marketing Management. The semester began just as all the other ones had before it- short first days of class as the teacher passed out the syllabus and went over the class content, expectations, rules, grading, etc. I was completely at home and relaxed in the Fogelman College of Business and Economics. I had been there since the second half of my Freshman year so I was familiar with the classroom I was headed to, although I had never been in the small, theater-style lecture hall. The class was Legal, Social and Political Environments of Business. I walked in, went the the third or fourth row and sat in the middle. The professor walked in, Larry Moore, J.D., a lawyer who had even written his own textbook for the class so I knew already he meant business (haha, no pun intended). But before the lecture ever began, life changed. In just a moment, in an instant, my whole world changed... and I didn't even know it. It is still one of the most vivid memories of my whole life. I sat in the hard, uncomfortable wooden chair in the lecture hall and glanced up as the people walked into the room one by one. I quickly tired of the people watching, but then something caught my eye. The reddest hair I had ever seen. A young man walked into the room with a navy fleece jacket, light blue jeans, brown leather shoes and a black backpack. I was mesmerized. My mouth hung open and my heart skipped at least three beats. He was gorgeous. Although I must admit that one of the first things I thought about this young man went something like this- "He looks like a freshman, though. How could he get into an upper level class? Oh, he must be smart! Ah, gorgeous and smart!!" Yes, I am a nerd. And I've always wanted to pass the best genes on to my children. :)
So in walks the vision of beauty and guess where he sits? The front row. As a self-proclaimed nerd, I know only nerds sit in the front row. Heck, I wouldn't even sit in the front row, it was too nerdy for me! But there he sat and I stared at the back of his head for the whole class. Although I wanted to listen and pay attention to the genius professor that I was lucky to have as a professor, it was almost impossible. There the Red Head sat and his presence beckoned my stares.
From the first moment, I was hooked.
The year preceding up to that day had been one fraught with heartache and learning lessons the hard way. You see, just a year before that fateful day, I had been dumped, left, abandoned in a somewhat long-distance relationship. I had set my affections and hope upon a young soldier who eventually decided that the distance or just the effort wasn't worth it. I never got any answers or any real closure and so I did what any broken hearted girl would do in such a situation, I hardened up. I decided right then and there that I was done with silly boys and silly broken hearts. I had too many important things to do in life and I didn't need a man to get them accomplished. I could go to the mission field alone. I could be one of those inspiring single women out in the plains of Africa, living every day in reckless abandonment for the Lord. No, I didn't need a man. And I didn't want one. I would learn to be completely content on my own. However, every night I went to sleep lonely and afraid of always feeling that loneliness down deep in my soul. Somehow, someway, I knew I wasn't meant to be alone. But I wasn't ready to face that fact. So I made a pact with myself- no boys for one year. I was only twenty. And despite an occasional crush here and there that I never acted upon, I kept that pact with myself. For a whole year and then some! That fateful day rolled around just a two months later. Funny how the Lord's timing works, huh?
But, I digress, back the lecture hall. The class ended, Red Head walked out, and I left the classroom in a cloud. I didn't mention him to anyone. I knew it sounded ridiculous. Me, the one who had sworn off boys, just lost her mind over one red headed boy. I didn't even like red heads, they weren't my type, never had I been attracted to them. I liked dark hair and dark eyes. Or blond hair and blue eyes. (Honestly, I liked anything with a cute face. Let's face it, I was shallow!) But one look at the guy's face, his tall, lanky build, the beautiful deep red hair had suddenly and forever changed my life. I knew nothing about him. His name, his age, who he was, if he was a Christian, if he had a police record, if he was an axe murderer or if he was already taken. And there was one other thing I didn't yet realize- I was suddenly taken. Off the market. End of story.
I don't believe in love at first sight. I didn't know the guy at all. But there is one thing that I do know all the way deep into my bones. I knew, knew, knew that life would never be the same after that day. Some quiet little corner of my heart was screaming as loud as it could that this boy was the one I had been waiting for since the day I heard my first love story, since the day the prince fell in love with Cinderella, since the day my Ken doll married my Barbie doll. I had been waiting on him for twenty-one years. And at the most common time in the most common place, my life became very uncommon, all because one boy walked through the door of a lecture hall and straight into my heart.
To be continued....
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