Kelly Konrad

Looking through some wedding pictures from September 5, 2015, I remember fondly the day we became man and wife. I promised him forever, and he made the same promise to me. We took our vows, and meant them with all our hearts. Whenever I look back on the day, I remember exactly how and why I fell in love with him back in 2012.

When I was in high school, I made a list of 10 qualities I looked for in my future husband, and he surpassed every single thing I listed. For example, I listed gentleness, affection, faithfulness, intelligence, and a great sense of humor. When it came to dating, my standards were super high, as I was looking for the right man to share forever with.

He and I met online. We were both on a dating website, and he messaged me first. That is actually another thing I hoped for in a man, that he would make the first move. When he messaged me, I took a chance and responded to him. This led to a series of long messages where we went into detail about our hobbies, interests, our hopes and dreams, what we were both looking for in a relationship, and more. This eventually led to texting, and eventually long phone calls. I felt a connection and chemistry with him, but I knew it was too soon to call it love.

We met at my college in person a month later, and it was almost love at first sight. I personally don’t believe in love at first sight, but a connection at first sight, because love is a sacred word that should only be said when a couple really knows each other, and truly knows it is love. Either way, our connection grew exponentially stronger.

As soon as we met, we hugged, as we felt we knew each other really well after all the talking. Before I continue the story, there’s a legend I must tell about my college. It is called the ‘legend of the loop’. The college is surrounded by a road, a loop that friends and lovers walked around. Legend has it that each loop the couple makes, the stronger and closer the couple become in their relationship. Maybe this is true, maybe it isn’t. I don’t know, but lots of couples fall in love, and go on to get married after meeting and dating at my college.

He and I walked around this loop about 3 times, the lucky number 3. The first loop, we were just talking. The second loop, we were talking and holding hands. To both our surprise, by the third loop, we stopped for a moment. We looked into each other’s eyes, and he told me the words “I love you”. When I reciprocated, he pulled me into his arms and softly kissed me. He then asked me to be his girlfriend, and I said yes. Of course I melted. I had major butterflies. We held each other for a while, and then we continued walking for a few more loops. I know things happened a little fast, but since we are married now, and have been for a happy 7 years, I have to say that neither of us have any regrets.

This was the very beginning.