We stood around the kitchen island, dipping chip after chip into cream cheese dip.  It was Monday, a night us girls gathered with pot luck food to indulge in our favorite guilty pleasure: The Bachelor.  Judge if you want, but with our hectic schedules, this weekly dating saga brought us together like glue.  We would usually gather a bit early to eat and catch up and of course discuss online dating.  I always loved hearing Heather’s stories about the first dates she went on.  Yet unlike so many who try online dating, Heather stuck with it.  This particular night, I waited to hear about the latest email or awkward dinner, but instead, Heather smiled and said, “Sooooo…. I met someone.”

From the first mention of Jim, I knew he was different.  My opinion was solidified when he soon began joining us on Monday nights.  Any guy who suffers through The Bachelor just to spend time with their girlfriend is worth it in my books.  With a message in a bottle and a diamond ring many months later, the rest is history.

Jim and Heather were married at People’s Light and Theater in Malvern on a warm June Sunday.  When Jim gave Heather a card just before the ceremony, I was amazed to see a handful of pages slip from the envelope.  As Heather read in silence, she explained that Jim had photocopied every journal entry he had made after each of their dates.  He knew, you see.  He knew from the start.

With palms raised to the sky, eyes closed, and hymns ringing through the garden at People’s Light and Theater, Heather and Jim stood before their dearest friends and family and vowed to love and honor each for eternity.