Finally, the Big Day

Life is like a roller coaster ride. You hang on tight and enjoy the ride. One crucial factor is to have a companion beside you to help you endure the wild ride. A family member or friend is nice, but a life-mate is much sweeter.

           With Mick, he lived a quiet life. It did not help that his first years of life contained teasing because of his appearance and difficulty pronouncing words correctly. On top of that, he lived in a military community, so his friends moved away as soon as he got to know them. Mick ended up becoming a loner in his bedroom. Living such an existence, companionship is replaced with an imaginative mind. Mick created games for himself and takes on paper. Reading recharged his mind daily.

           His father was not too concerned about his son’s lifestyle since he had a similar one when he was younger and figured Mick would grow out of it. His mother, concerned by Mick’s solitude, so talked to him often.

           “Why don’t you see if Chris or Nick can do something?” she asked Mick.

           “They are busy with their other friends,” he replied. “I am fine.”

           His mother asked him about spending time with his friends or just going outside instead of in his room all the time.

           “I have plenty to do in my room, Mom,” he told her.

           With the urging of his mom, he started going to youth groups at church to make her happy. With him not being the talkative one, he was not sure how this would go. It was church. They would greet him with open arms. He found out that even though they greeted him with a handshake and a smile, which was as far as it went before they went to their small groups to stay. Mick was never invited to be part of a group after weeks, so stopped going. The disappointment turned him away from church until further in life when everything slowed down, and he saw the fuller picture regarding a relationship with God.

           Soon, school ended, and it was time to enter the job market. Mick had worked minor jobs here and there while in school, but now it was time to find a full-time job. Hoping to have a job meant a better chance of finding a girlfriend. Mick had little luck in school for the opposite sex. Opportunities arose, but they were not the type of girls he wanted to associate with, knowing he would start going down the wrong path if he dated them. The few friends he had or once had all had at least one girlfriend before school ended.

           “Will I ever find a girl to start up a relationship?” he asked himself in his teenage years. “Will I ever get married?” he asked himself as he moved into the adult years.

           One by one, he watched as the ones he knew married. The only ones that did not marry had no interest in doing so. No interest to commit. They prefer to stay in a relationship and go their way if it does not work out. No need to deal with the mess of a divorce. Many of them already saw how messy it can be by observing their parents, family members, or parents of a friend. No interest in ever marrying. Mick was conflicted with the concept. He had little interest, but he knew in the back of his mind that he wanted a companion to spend the rest of his life with. He believed that existence on this crazy planet would be so much better. The question is if it will ever happen.

           The job eventually came, and it was not too long after that Mick moved into his place. Now, he could stay home as much as he liked and not worry about his mother bothering him all the time. But he went over to his parents often since he enjoyed her mother’s food and was lonely.

           Years ticked by and his hopes of marriage dwindled.

           “I pray for a brief life if I never find my soul mate,” he thought.

           Not long after such thoughts, his mother hooked him up with a girl from church. The first date went well, but he quickly realized it would not work out since she was looking for a good Christian man, and Mick did not qualify as one. He went to church but followed the teachings loosely. He was not surprised that she broke it off after the fourth date. It saddened him, but also gave him hope he could get a girlfriend. The question is if he can find a wife. He prayed more often that the day would come.

Until that day, Mick took yearly vacations with two of his cousins. He went to most of the states, then overseas to Europe a few times.

           “There are many who never heave their state,” he thought. “I am at least blessed in my travels.”

           The vacations ended as quickly as they started for the cousin who set up the vacations and announced he was getting married.

           “I know I don’t talk to you much, Lord, but please bring me a soulmate before I lose all hope.”

           That day came when once again his mother and one of her friends set me up with a woman named Shelly.

           They had their first date and the two of them realized they had finally met their soulmates.

           Shelly was in a comparable situation to Mick for wondering if she would ever marry. She had a couple of boyfriends in school. But found out quickly they just wanted to have sex, so dumped them. She had a couple more after school but found out one was already married and the other expressed himself in a way she thought bizarre.

           “Will the day come?” she told herself.

           The day came when she met Mick. No one was perfect, but he was close enough.

           Time went by and she became anxious about whether he would propose or not. She wondered if she should propose instead.

           “He might not be the marrying type,” she wondered, knowing there was increasingly who did not want to marry anymore.

           It was Valentine’s Day that he finally proposed.

           “It was difficult to find the right ring,” he told her. “Plus, I need to have the money to make the down payment.”

           The date was set. Afterward, it seemed like time slowed down. Shelly started preparing for the big day from the start. Mick was only glad that he was finally going to get married to his soulmate. They both were grateful they did not marry the ones in the past, for they had a feeling they would not end well.

           The day came, and everything was prepared. Both were so excited as they stood on the altar.

           Both a sigh of relief after they both said, “I do.”