I will apologize ahead of time for the length of this post; but for those who have never heard the Anne and Andrew saga in its entirety, I feel that this narrative sheds some light:
The first time I ever laid eyes on Anne was our Freshman year of high school. We were returning from a mission trip in Juarez, Mexico where we spent a week building houses. I was sitting in front of her on the plane with a couple of my buddies and I remember turning around in my seat for most of the flight talking with Anne and her friends. The next time I remember hanging out with Anne in mixed company was at the rope swing on the Harpeth River only a few miles from my house. I remember seeing her and thinking 'Wow, she is really pretty.' But she had a boyfriend at the time so I didn't give it a second thought.
A church retreat our junior year of high school was perhaps the biggest turning point in our relationship. We were placed in the same small group and were given the chance to really get to know each other on a fairly deep level. Within a month after the retreat I asked her on a date to J. Alexander's and a basketball game at BHS. We had a great time and continued hanging out quite a bit after that. However, me being young and foolish, I didn't ask her to be my girlfriend, but we still remained very close friends attending two proms with each other.
They say you don't realize what you have until you lose it. I think that statement applies fairly well with Anne and I's relationship, as that has held true several times. Going to our respective colleges, Anne in Colorado and me in Washington, DC brought about a new dynamic. For the first time we were thousands of miles apart and I found myself really missing one of my best friends. It was at this moment that I realized what it meant all along. I wasn't just Anne's friend - it was more than that. That deep yearning to see my 'friend' was actually me realizing that I enjoyed Anne on a different level. It was the budding of a love that I was starting to feel for her. Finally our Sophomore year of college, we (well, mainly I) smartened up and decided that it was time to start a relationship together - we began dating exclusively that Christmas of 2007.
Dating long distance is never easy but it was exceptionally hard because we were just getting our relationship off the ground. I visited Boulder and she came to DC (both back to back weekends in March) but it was proving difficult for us to manage the time apart. Anne committed to going to Mexico that summer to return to where we had met our Freshman year, Juarez. Before the trip she broke things off with me realizing that it would be very difficult to maintain a relationship and focus her energy on what she was doing.
I was pretty upset with the break-up. I was too immature to understand what she meant and took it personally. Looking back, Anne was making the right decision, I was just too foolish to understand what she meant and what she needed at the time. I decided that I would take things into my own hands and plan a surprise trip to El Paso, TX to try and win her back! I bought a plane ticket, made the trip to Texas, and surprised her. I mean, really surprised her. She had no idea I was coming and I think it threw her for a major loop. Following the trip things were still up in the air. Nothing had really been solved; but I think it was clear that I wasn't going to give up that easy.
That fall was even harder. We weren't together even though we were talking frequently. I think the distance combined with some other factors made things confusing for her. We kept in good contact that fall but still didn't have any real answers.
Christmas break always seemed to bring Anne and I back together. Three weeks was always enough time for us to remember how much we enjoyed spending time with each other and perhaps how much we truly cared about one another. Needless to say, we started dating again that Christmas of 2008. It was at this point that I started to realize that I didn't just 'like' Anne - I loved her. And, that I really desired to be with her and to try and make our relationship work!
The next year we had some great times, she came to Arkansas to watch perhaps the greatest weekend of my college track career, as well as Eugene, OR to watch the Olympic Trials. We went on a backpacking trip in Olympic National Park and saw some of God's most amazing handiwork in the mountains. She transferred back to O'More College of Design, which worked out well, as we were able to see each other a little more often as we made trips back and forth. She became very familiar with BWI Airport! Our relationship was blossoming. Things went amazingly well for over a year.
Then I did the single most stupid thing I've ever done in my life. I broke up with Anne in May of 2009. For reasons that seem so incredibly stupid to me now, I got scared and didn't know what to do. I didn't think things through at all and decided that the only way to surpass the fear and uncertainty was to break things off. This could have potentially been the stupidest thing I've ever done. For 3 weeks following the break up I was in agony. I couldn't believe how dumb I had been to be so rash. Anne was incredibly hurt and for that entire time didn't want to talk to me - understandably so. After about 3 weeks of sleepless nights, barely eating, and borderline depression I decided that I HAD to try and save it. Yet again, I bought a plane ticket to surprise Anne back in Nashville. I had to SEE her and tell her how stupid I had been and beg for forgiveness. To this day that plane ride is the most nervous I've ever been. I was heartbroken and worried that I had made the biggest mistake of my life. Now I won't pretend that when we saw each other things were magically healed, but I will say that Anne lives up to her name - full of grace. She took a major leap of faith and took me back. She surprised me (shown below) at my graduation from Georgetown to say 'yes, I'm still in this.' That still remains as one the happiest weekends of my life.
Wheww, so we've made it through a couple of breakups and all of the other hardships that go along with dating long distance for 4 years. But since May of 2009 Anne and I have been happily dating. Sure, we still have our fights and ups and downs; but thanks to God we have a resolve that is based in a love for God, and through that we have a great love for each other. We are incredibly lucky to have each other and I thank God everyday for putting and keeping Anne in my life.
