Jeffrey Schwartz's Story - Continued

We kept talking on Friday nights and Sunday mornings at church, and even played volleyball together and just had fun. I wanted to date her more than anything in the world, and she was still not ready to date.

One Friday afternoon, I got the call from my employer that I had to leave town for three weeks. A hailstorm had ripped through Nebraska, and they wanted me to pack my bags and go adjust claims. I asked if I could leave the next morning, and my boss agreed. I wanted to go to the Friday night gathering and tell my friends that I was going to be gone for awhile but that I was coming back.

I also determined that I was wasting my time with this wonderful woman. Not that I didn't mind having her friendship - I have had plenty of platonic relationships with women over the course of my life - but I was really attracted to her and it was becoming very difficult for me, knowing that we could be nothing more than friends. But, I wanted to say goodbye to her as well.

As luck would have it, she and her mother didn't show up like they normally did. She wasn't feeling well, and our group got together to pray for her speedy recovery. Then, as luck would have it, just as we finished the prayer, she and her mother arrived.

To hear her version of the story, she saw the true care and concern in my eyes and face when she came in, and this caught her attention, and she knew that we were meant to be together. But, at this point, I had already had given up. I explained to people that I was leaving for several weeks, and told her as well. I gave her my business card, wrote my cellphone number on the back of it, and told her she could call me if she wanted to just chat. I figured that was the end of that, and I'd never hear from her.

As I'm in my hotel room in Grand Island the next afternoon, my cellphone rang. It was her. My heart was racing - no, it was pounding. We chatted for a bit, said goodnight to each other, and then I went on to work.

The next night, she called again. Over the next few days, we talked several times a day. I moved on to Beatrice, Nebraska and from there to Omaha. Between the two of us calling each other, we chatted every day. On May 18th, as my business trip was coming to a close, I asked her out. She agreed, and asked if we could go and see a movie. She chose Shrek, which was scheduled to open on May 19th and she wanted to see it and asked me if I would go see it with her. I said that I would, but I had no exact idea when I would be able to make it back to Denver.

That evening, I asked my boss when I could go home. He said that another group of adjusters was on the way to Omaha, and I could leave in the morning if I wanted. I tried to get some sleep that night. I was laying in bed, staring at the ceiling, watching TV, trying to shut off my brain. I gave up, showered, packed my bags and checked out of the hotel and headed out of town around 2am.

At about 8am, I called her to wish her a good morning from somewhere on I-76 in Northeastern Colorado, and then asked if she still wanted to see Shrek. Of course, she said yes. I was exhausted from a lack of sleep and running on pure adrenaline that evening. But, it was one of the greatest nights of my life.

That night, I knew I was going to marry her.