This is an edited version of our story which was read at our wedding.
From Dreams to Destiny
Destiny – the predetermined, usually inevitable or irresistible, course of events.
Do you believe in destiny? Do you believe that God has a plan for our lives? Lessons that we must learn? Paths that we must travel? If you don’t, you might after you hear our story.
At some point in the early to mid 80’s, Momma D. was successfully raising two teenage sons. She was a very attentive mother and kept a close watch on her boys. One morning she somehow found out that Mike was not at school (perhaps from Aunt Jean who was a guidance counselor at the high school Mike attended) and went in search of his car. It just so happened that Mike and Cyndie had decided that they weren’t particularly in the mood for school that day and had gone to hang out and watch TV at Cyndie’s Mom’s place which just so happened to be, you guessed it, an apartment in the complex that Momma D. decided to look. Now mind you, Mike and Cyndie were not dating, they were just friends. So, somehow Momma D. figures out which apartment the kids are skipping school in and proceeds to BANG on the door. Cyndie jumps up and looks out the peephole and informs Mike that it’s his mom! And then to make matters worse, Cyndie opens the door! (To this day she does not know why she opened the door to this obviously angry mother. Either Cyndie’s mom was raising a very polite kid or Carol scared her to death!) So Cyndie has opened the door and is looking down into the eyes of Mom who very gently and politely DEMANDS to know if Mike is there to which Cyndie very firmly answers “NO!” In the meantime, Mike is trying to climb down the second-floor balcony of the apartment for his get-away. Unfortunately Momma D. spots him and yells, “There he is, trying to climb down the balcony!” Mike, who realizes he’s been caught, climbs back onto the balcony and slumps back into the apartment, leaning down so that Carol can take him by the ear and drag him back to school.
The skipping school day was the one and only time Mike and Cyndie spent any time alone together during high school…wonder why?! They hung out with the same group of friends but after high school they lost touch, each going their separate ways.
Fast forward to sometime in perhaps 2000-2001. Mike sits up in bed one night and exclaims, “Cyndie is that you?!” There is no explanation for this at the time…the only Cyndie Mike can think of is his cousin so the incident is brushed away and not thought of again for many years.
Fast forward again to January 2007. Mike is logged into Classmates.com and comes across Cyndie’s profile. He shoots her a quick email asking how she’s doing and suggesting that they get caught up on the last 22 years. Cyndie sends him an email back the next morning informing him that she will be going to a club the next evening to listen to a friend sing and the great band she’s in and asks if he would like to join in the fun. Coincidentally, it’s a club that Mike goes to often and so does Cyndie but somehow they had never run into each other there. They make arrangements to meet at the club and catch up.
Mike arrives at the club before Cyndie and sees a friend that he hasn’t seen in awhile. When he asks her what she’s doing there, the friend replies that she is meeting a friend to watch the fabulous band. Mike says, “Me, too…who are you meeting?” to which she replies, “My friend Cyndie.” What a coincidence! Cyndie finally arrives and as Mikey comes around the table for a hug, everything in the club fades away and all Cyndie sees is this incredible smile and beautiful eyes.
They soon settle in and start talking about what they’ve been up to. They talk about their kids, who coincidentally are almost the exact same ages. They talk about old friends and old times and all the things that two people who haven’t seen each other in 22 years talk about. At some point the conversation turns to where they live. Turns out, they live only 4 houses apart! Another incredible coincidence! It was a fun night and they part ways with cell phone numbers and a promise to keep in touch, neither one of them knowing that with this simple meeting destiny had finally intertwined the paths of their lives. (Although the next day Mike does mention to some of his friends that he and Cyndie would look really cute together.)
On Valentine’s Day, Mike is having a REALLY bad day. Cyndie sends him a “Happy Valentine’s Day!” text message and makes him smile. That simple text message makes Mike feel as though a new light has been shined on his life.
After several weeks the couple begin dating. One night while at dinner with her daughter, Cyndie texts Mike and asks his oldest son’s name (because she has a terrible memory) and when he replies Cyndie asks what middle school he went to. Good Grief! Mike and Cyndie’s oldest children had “dated” in the 6th grade!! They were both in the band and Cyndie and Mike were both at band concerts and field trips but had never seen each other.
(Now keep in mind that a coincidence is defined as “a striking occurrence of two or more events at one time apparently by mere chance.” And a synonym of coincidence is fate and fate is another word for destiny.)
As this couple looks back over the course of their lives thus far, they see the future unfold. Had Mike’s wonderful mother not scared poor little Cyndie, it’s possible that a romance might have developed…but it’s clear now that it wasn’t the right time. Their lives have been running parallel to each other for the past 20-something years. They both joined the military out of high school and both received medical discharges, they had children during the same years, their children knew each other and were involved in the same activities, they had several mutual friends, and they ended up living 4 doors down from each other. So many times their paths could have crossed but didn’t!
From Mike’s Dream many years ago to all of the coincidences along the way, Mike and Cyndie have a connection that they sincerely feel is a result of being each other’s Destiny. There is no doubt in either of their hearts or souls that the two of them are meant to be together. The love they share is a rare and wondrous gift and they feel truly blessed that the time is finally right for them to share the rest of their lives together!
imaginationloop 