Meant to Be...

If it’s Meant to Be…

                This is not my story. This probably has major errors. This is the way I’ve pieced the story together after hearing bits here and there from my mom, dad, grandparents, their friend Joyce, and my uncles. I like the story, even though it’s not mine.

                She was 18, beautiful, and spunky. She had just broken up with her high school sweetheart because she and Cody just didn’t have the same dreams or plans for making their dreams come true. It was her first day at her new job. Her mom’s friend Joyce thought it would be perfect for her. This was the job that was going to earn her enough money to backpack through Europe. That would be the trip she needed before growing up and going to college. So she thought. What was this new job really? This was the job where she would meet her soul mate.  

                He was 25, tall, handsome, and sophisticated. He had been working there for some time now, getting used to American culture again. When he returned from his Peace Corps mission in Peru, he decided this would be the job to get him through until another worldly adventure proposed itself. This would be the job to earn him some cash so he could spend frivolously if that’s where his self-declared bachelorhood took him. So he thought. What was this job really? This was the job where he would meet the woman who would change his life.

                Joyce was showing her around, introducing her to people. Joyce had a plan… Let him see her from a distance to peak his curiosity, and he will come to her. Joyce’s plan was simple, yet brilliant. She watched him when he glanced at this new employee. She watched him as his face went white. She watched him as his mouth gaped. She watched him when he commented to anybody within two feet of him.

                “That’s the girl I’m going to marry.” He didn’t even realize he had said it out loud until his buddy’s laughter startled him.

                “Yeah right, Jim! Good luck with that!”

                Jim scowled at his buddy and moved toward this woman. What’s wrong with me? He asked himself. I don’t believe in fate. I don’t want to get married. Why am I still walking? And he reached out his hand to greet his beautiful new co-worker. “Hello. I’m Jim,” he said.

                “Hello,” she replied shyly as she shook his strong hand. “I’m Karen.”

                That’s the softest hand I’ve ever felt! What is wrong with me?!

                He asked her out.

                She offered to cook him dinner. What am I thinking? I don’t know how to cook!

                He said yes.

                All day long, they caught each other and got caught by the other sneaking a look. “What am I thinking?” they both asked.

                Karen called her brother. “Roger! I need your help! Please come cook dinner at my apartment tonight for my date and me!” and as it baked, “Please go before he gets here!”

                Fate? Destiny? Was it meant to be? It sure felt like it!

                But then Jim’s next worldly adventure came along. As his voyage headed toward Singapore, his eyes filled with tears. What am I doing? This is what I want! This is what I’d planned! So why does it feel so bad?

                Karen looked at the desk that had been Jim’s. Her eyes welled up. If it’s meant to be, it will be. In the meantime, I should learn to cook.

                He couldn’t stay away. He returned to Denver, proposed to her, and they got married in September.

                She entered his workplace and changed his life. He introduced himself and changed hers. Some things are just meant to be.