ANOTHER BEAUTIFUL LOVE STORY
JODY DESIMONE'S JOURNEY TO LOVE
When I met her, it was completely unexpected. I was exiting a marriage, focused on health, and parenting my little heart out. At first, it was all business as I was introduced to her as a client. As time went on, we got along really well and spent the majority of our days talking. I never looked at it as more than an authentic human connection. The more time, the more talking, the more shared experiences, and the closer we got. A few months in, we were full-fledged friends and not the superficial kind. We had all the ingredients to be best friends or possibly even more.
It wasn't apparent at first because we were both in a place in our current relationships where we were leaving but not all the way done yet. Neither of us were even in the place to want more or give more. When our current relationships ended, we continued on our path of closeness. We aligned socially, spiritually, and we both had things to teach the other. I don't think either of us realized anything else was going on that first year. Our relationship was innocent and built on pure friendship.
WHEN I KNEW IT WAS LOVE
Suddenly a lot of things started to go wrong for her. The pit I would get in my stomach, knowing she was even a little uncomfortable, made me start questioning how I felt. I hadn't so much as looked at another woman that year, nor had I thought about dating. I spent time working, parenting, going to school, and talking with her. Maybe it should have been obvious, but it wasn't. I was also one hundred percent not her type. Regardless of all of those things, she always came to me first. I knew all of her secrets, and we didn't hold back with each other ever. We were essentially planning a future together without all the other relationship aspects. We had made plans to move state and get a house together eventually.
FIRST DATES
Then she asked me on our first "friend date" (not that the word friend was ever said) I just took it as such. She just had so much going on and that small piece about me NOT being her type all played into my interpretation of the night.
We went out, she spoiled me, paid for everything, and it was an incredible night. Then we went home as usual and back to the same daily grind. I was definitely confused. I was getting good morning texts, good night texts, and lots of compliments, even the occasional 'hey baby' text.
After a couple more weeks of this, I finally got up the nerve to ask her out, for real. She said yes, and I picked her up that Friday after work. I took her to her favorite restaurant and had flowers delivered mid-meal. I had her favorite dish already made and waiting at the table when we got there.
Then she started crying halfway through the meal. I thought I had royally screwed up, crossed some boundaries, and risked our friendship. Then all of a sudden, she confessed to having had feelings for me for a long time. The rest of the meal was amazing as we admitted moments we knew and things we had wanted to say and do for one another over the last year.