I will never forget the first time I saw Sarah Morrison. I was out on the back patio at the Morrison household with James and Jose. James invited me over to his house to partake in some patio beer drinking. We were not technically of age to drink beer, so we had to devise a plan to secretly drink the beer without letting Jim or Nan catch us. We came up with a brilliant plan of having two people hide in the bushes to drink a beer while one person was on look out duty. I was very nervous while I was on look out duty, adrenaline flowing while all senses were on high alert. Suddenly, I saw some movement in the kitchen. My eyes were peeled and my heart was pounding. I was ready to give the signal that we were in danger. Instead of seeing Jim coming straight for us, I was surprised in a totally different way. I saw the most beautiful young lady I had ever laid eyes on. Her hair was flowing and her eyes were glistening. It was as if time had slowed down and at that instant I could think of nothing else except her immense beauty. I had always heard that James had beautiful sisters, but I had never paid much attention to it because I knew how protective James was of his sisters. At that moment I didn’t care at all, I was gawking and didn’t care who saw me. After a few minutes of being in my own world, admiring Sarah’s beauty, I immediately volunteered for lookout duty again. After my third time straight of lookout duty Jose came out of the bushes to investigate my unusual behavior. He said to me, “Ooohhh, I see what you are doing”. I didn’t care that he knew at all, the he said, “JB, she is perfect for you”. I was shocked, not only because he was right, but also because he said it out loud. That was dangerous territory with James just a short distance away. After that night I didn’t see Sarah for many years, although my memory of her beauty had a permanent place in my mind.
After being in college for several years, Sarah and I developed a good friendship. We would hang out as friends and have a great time. Our friendship, I would call flirtatious, my friends would call it a blatant crush. John and Jose would never hesitate to tell me that I liked her waaaay more than a friend. Although, I didn’t admit this for a long time. Then, one evening in the fall of 2006 my parents invited me and a date to go on a dinner cruise with them. It was going to be a dress up dinner with a lot of strangers, so I needed someone who was classy and would not hesitate to make conversation with complete strangers. I immediately thought of Sarah. She was elegant and very social. I also knew she would love to go on a double date with my parents, just like we were in high school again. We had a wonderful time on the dinner cruise and my dad, being the show off he is, wanted to take us dancing so he could show off his salsa skills. We ended up going to a latin restaurant bar that had live salsa music. My mom and dad danced gracefully while Sarah and I did our best to not stand out like sore thumbs. After a few songs, Sarah and I could care less about our dancing skills and were enveloped in our emerging feelings. After the dancing, we were driving home, mom and dad in the front seat, Sarah and I in the back. I was overwhelmed with feelings, wanting to give her a kiss but being held back by the presence of my parents. As the ride was nearing the end, I knew I had to do something so I did the only thing I could. I reached out for her hand, hoping that she would know that I wanted our relationship to move beyond the “just friends” facade that we had had for years. She loved it, and as the ride came to an end I knew we had finally reached the same point in our lives where we were ready for each other. After a few months, we solidified our status as a couple and have been deeply in love ever since. From one night of drinking beer with my buddies, to a romantic evening of dinner and dancing, all of this eventually led into the best relationship of my life. I unsuspectedly found the love of my life, the perfect woman who I will spend the rest of my life with.