> love

this makes me think of e. regardless of the few encounters we had leading up to our official meet-cute at a unc game, e and i were not in love from the get-go. BUT that man kept coming up - either through conversations with my sister or through random run-ins and i knew he was supposed to be in my life.
i didn't know how or why, but i just knew.

for years to come and even now, but specifically for those first few years where dating can be hard and confusing and bumpy at times because it isn't perfect and people aren't perfect, this realization is what kept my perspective steady. i knew e was the one for me and that i was the one for him. i knew we would build something strong together, an unbreakable bond that certainly holds love but also something else, something i don't even know a word for. but whatever that is, that's what was there between us when i first saw e. love is easy and can be anxious. but this other thing, is patient but persistent, consistent and calming.