As fate is wont to be, Barry was in my life almost a decade before we met. From being buildings away on the UNM campus, frequenting the same restaurants, and some of my coworkers even went to high school with him! And yet, we never met. I’d like to think that was a good thing because I wasn’t ready for the relationship I would come to have with Barry. I still needed to do a lot of growing up, I needed experiences and lessons, and I needed to be open to love. I had two out of three wink.

In the end, even with so many personal relationships and locations in common, we ended up meeting on technology. A dating app that I will keep to myself. If you know, you know.

A month later, not knowing if he was a serial killer or something worse like not liking coffee, we met at Starbucks. I was extremely nervous especially when I saw how handsome he was. What if he didn’t like me? What if I had spinach in my teeth? (Had I even eaten spinach that month? NO IDEA!) My friends that were with me that day were used to my high level of nervous energy and indecisiveness. But even they were left wondering why I was as flustered as I was. I remember my best friend, Paris, asking me if I really needed to try on that many outfits. She did, lovingly with only a touch of impatience, assure me that yes, my hair looked amazing for the twentieth time.

Hank and Paris may have assured me everything would be just fine and yet…those scoundrels spied on Barry and me for the first twenty minutes of our date! They sat across the parking lot at a local gelato shop and got a front row view. I was told quite succinctly that when I did a casual hair toss with my hand that I was just fine. My blatant physical flirt moves, I was told.

They were right. Barry and I didn’t struggle in the least to keep conversation going. Talking to him was as easy as dreaming and sometimes I almost forgot I didn’t really know him yet. It’s as if we had been talking for years. We went outside after hours in the Starbucks and to our complete surprise, the parking lot had been completely decorated/changed into a tree lighting ceremony with drinks, music, and prizes. Neither of us had any idea this was going on just outside of the world we had inhabited together since meeting.

Flakes of snow swirled around us (yes it does snow in New Mexico) but still, I glanced around confused. It was chilly but not the deep frigid cold of snow and there was no snow on the ground. I felt like we were the star cast in a epic romantic comedy!

Turns out, it was just a snow maker/blower for the event…but that didn’t stop Barry. With a rogue twinkle in his eye and a smirk to make sure I was watching (don’t worry, I was!) he stuck out his tongue to catch the flakes. Closed his mouth…waited a moment…and promptly gagged. Turns out they were making the “snow” with soap. His embarrassment shown on his flaming cheeks and yet he owned it. His arm went around mine and he pulled me close. I snuggled into his warm embrace and laughed wholeheartedly at the situation.

His arm didn’t leave my shoulders and … in true romantic comedy fashion … my heart never left his from that moment on.