I remember the day I met Dan, as if it was just yesterday. It was February 1978, a few days before my 15th birthday. My girlfriend and I, the rolling reporters of the neighborhood, decided to go and check out the new boy who had moved into our area.

We were not fast, just noisy; besides, our parents would not allow us to venture out of the perimeter of our small community. We busied ourselves with everybody else's business.

When I first saw Dan he was standing on his front porch wearing a long gray wool coat, a goofy tri-color wool hat, black gloves, dress shoes and dress pants. I thought to myself why does he have on shoes and church pants, today is not Sunday! At 14, I was not too much into boys due to the fact that my father would have killed me, and I was not ready to try him. However, it was something about this 16-year-old skinny broad shoulder, harden exterior, worldly and seemly wise young man that made my 14-year-old heart skip a beat.

I knew then,he was the one for me. He was enough for me to try my father. When I finally collected myself enough to speak I barely mumbled out the words "I like your hat, do you like my socks"? My girlfriend looked at me in shock and disbelief, as if I was the dumbest person in the whole world. I was in puppy love for the first time in my life; it was as if the fireworks of the 4th of July had come early.

We were total and complete polar opposites, the brains and the brute, in spite of; he became, my man, I was his girl.

Throughout our teen years we explored life together, the ups and downs, we dreamed of building a life together. People thought we were brother and sister more than girlfriend and boyfriend. Nevertheless, trials of life happen and we separated, met other people, lead different lives, and pursued other dreams. Periodically the winds of destiny would blow us together for short periods of time, but immaturity, and outside forces would come to tear us apart. Nevertheless what god has put together no man has been able to asunder, not even us. Obviously God's plans, along with those of my father Seamon Smith Jr., his mother Addie Arthur and adopted mother Dorothy Jackson, were not our plans. After many years of avoiding and running from God's purpose for our lives we have surrendered to destiny, so on August 24th 2010 our families and friends will gather to witness Dan and I become one, the man and woman, he has longed destine for us to be.