It was 2003, fresh out of a dead end relationship and feeling as anyone would, lonely and jaded. After mourning the end of what I believed was "the one" I decided to let go of the past and focus on all that was good in my life. I refused to resign, I wanted to still believe in the possibility of true love. So I placed a couple of fresh flowers (pink of course) at my bedside every week, and woke up every morning with the certainty that the perfect man (perfect for me that is) was on his way into my life, as sure as the sun rises and sets, I maintained that certainty and held that thought no matter what life placed on my welcome doormat each day.
Well all this new age stuff, feng shui and positive thinking may seem silly to some of you, but it was my way of "dealing", and it worked. I did find joy in my days and begun to feel alive again. I proceeded to plan a trip with a girlfriend to exotic Morocco, hmmm. I love traveling. We were very excited about our decision, but when we finally came to make our reservations, we were informed that the resort we had our hearts set on was sold out. The travel agent suggested a different resort, this one was down in the Islands of Turks and Caicos.
Turks & Whooo! You ask, well that's what the crooked eyebrows on our faces expressed.
She went on talking about this wonderful paradise until my friend was sold on the idea. I never was much of a vacationer, more of a traveler. It took me a little while to agree, but in the end I went along with the decision. I found myself in Turks & Caicos two weeks later - bored out of my mind, not to mention annoyed by a fellow who kept insisting on buying me drinks. Eventually to get him off my back, my girlfriend asked his new acquaintance to help keep that guy away from me, and so he introduced me to a friend he was traveling with.
His name was André, he was a jeweler, owned his own retail store in Southern California, oh and he spoke my language (armenian), he seemed to know me for years, and was a perfect gentleman. We met near the end of our trip, realizing that all this time our rooms were two doors away; yet we had never ran into each other.
I kept his number well tucked in my wallet days after I had returned to Montreal, not yet convinced if he was worthy of long distance calls. He, on the other hand, made AT&T happy calling every second day, and then every day. A few trips back and forth, and one year later I was moving to L.A. It was a difficult decision, after all the success of this new found relationship also meant moving miles away from my home town, all my family and childhood friends.
When finally we decided to get married, I insisted on designing my own ring. As a graphic designer for fifteen years, there was no way of keeping me uninvolved in the design process. And so I begun sketching my ring, I wasted many papers until I was satisfied. The day of the reveal, Andre looked at my sketch and was startled, he went in his back office and begun digging up his old jewelry drawers. ( I need to organize him, I thought) He eventually (Lord give me patience) pulled out an unfinished mold of a ring, it was identical to my drawings. It was the strangest feeling, eerie. That moment I knew we were truly meant to be! Customers who hear my story, always re-affirm this statement "it was meant to be!"
When finally we decided to get married, I insisted on designing my own ring. As a graphic designer for fifteen years, there was no way of keeping me uninvolved in the design process. And so I begun sketching my ring, I wasted many papers until I was satisfied. The day of the reveal, Andre looked at my sketch and was startled, he went in his back office and begun digging up his old jewelry drawers. ( I need to organize him, I thought) He eventually (Lord give me patience) pulled out an unfinished mold of a ring, it was identical to my drawings. It was the strangest feeling, eerie. That moment I knew we were truly meant to be! Customers who hear my story, always re-affirm this statement "it was meant to be!"
Today when I look at my ring, I don't see the diamond, its size, color or shape, I remember the synchronicity of all the events that brought us together!
Share your love story.
