#TRUELOVENEVERSETTLES

The place is Greenbrier High School, the year is 2006. Melissa and I met through some friends of ours that were dating back then, both of us were single and just kinda spending time with our friends back then. Well what can I say, She had a friend and he had a friend, and I guess they both figured why the heck not, and here we were. So we ended up at a football game on one of the coldest nights of the season and though we both weren't enjoying the weather, I had a huge jacket, I think it was a 5X for some reason, but who cared? (I promise I wasn't that big back then, ridiculously oversized clothing was just the trend at the time), but I got it on sale at Ross, and boy was it RIGHT ON TIME. We spent most of the game snuggled up in that legendary jacket. Had I known that it was going to be the beginning of what would become the love story of a lifetime, I'd have framed it. We spent some time together a few more times after that, and well, the friends that were dating, that brought us together, broke up. (Ah, young love) And as young as we were, I'm sure the unspoken rules were they go, I go. And we slowly lost touch, though we spent some late nights on the phone, and enjoyed each other, we just broke contact with no issues or hard feelings because of our friends. September 2019 - Arts In the Heart, Downtown Augusta, 12 years later. A few of my friends and I went to the festival to have a little fun and enjoy ourselves, and we had spent hours (and plenty of money) and we all parted ways to get back to our individual vehicles. I just so happened to look up and who did I happen to spot, with a gigantic bomb pop popsicle in her hand? Melissa Jane Hogan. I called out her name, which she turned to me and looked with a smile, we spoke for a minute.....and about our way we went. After I got home, I thought to myself, "I wonder if she's seeing anyone these days?" And proceeded to search her on Facebook as fast as my fingers could type. I sent a message. Who on Earth would have thought that it would have taken about a year for her to read it, let alone reply to it. Anyone who knows her, knows she doesn't do the "Facebook thing" well needless to say, I didn't have a clue. I was on it myself. Everyday. So fast forward to a year later, September 2020......I get the *ting* notification from my messenger that we're all too familiar with and lo and behold, she had replied. Now of course, I didn't want to seem desperate by instantly messaging back, but in the back of my mind, it could be another year before she gets back on. I made use of the opportunity. We met at the park, caught up, spent some more time together and retested the waters, and went on our first OFFICIAL date, you know....the one we missed out on when we were kids, in November of 2020 and we've been together ever since.