The year was 2012, maybe, or something near-abouts. It might have been summer, it might have been fall, but it was probably spring. That’s just how that goes. The oil and gas industry was booming in the northeast. Cowboys and roughnecks and misguided sons of miners running amuck all across coal country. Chasing rigs, up to our knees in muddy sludge, and trying our damnedest to not lose a finger to heavy iron. Somehow, she got herself tangled in with all of us. She was doing a short work rotation in the field at the time, pretending to learn the business and milking it for all it was worth all the while.

Long days, long hours, and late evenings, that’s how we met. Found out we there were a lot of things we didn’t have in common. Found out there were a hell of a lot more things we did have in common. We can’t say it was fireworks, we can’t say it was love at first sight. No, ours was an accident over time, in a way. The important things in our lives just slipped and tripped and fell into place, and somehow, we slipped and tripped and fell into love. Yeah, maybe we poked and prodded a few that didn’t quite fit just right. At some point, the exact day is lost to us now, our lives were all of a sudden… our life.

We didn’t simply just meet. We sort of found each other, over time, piece by piece. Ours is the story of the undeniable heart. We don’t remember the day we met, nor the day we fell for each other. We remember being two strangers, then two friends, then too deep to deny that we were in love. We remember a long series of moments; moments where we pulled one another closer and closer. Moments where we pulled one another kicking and screaming, too. Maybe it wasn’t accidental, maybe it was inevitable.

Whatever it was, here is what it is. I love this woman. She loves me. I wouldn’t have it any other way.