Deron and I have known each other for as long as I can remember. We grew up
at the same church and our mothers were friends. As he is 7 years older than
I, we were mostly only acquaintances until I stayed for a week at his family's
house one summer when both of my parents were out of town. That week, I fell
in love with his family and Deron and his sister, Angela, became the two
people I looked up to most. That summer I had just finished 6th grade (and
Deron had just finished his 2nd year at San Jac.).
The following summer I went off to youth camp with my church and we were
divided up into "family groups". These groups consisted of about 10 kids and
2 leaders (one "Mom" and one "Dad"). Deron turned out to be my "Dad"! I was
so excited, because I had not grown to not only look up to him but to have a
little crush on him as well!
Since Deron was a youth intern at church for several years, I was able to
maintain contact with him and he became my "big brother" figure. I was
totally enraptured by his voice and loved to hear him sing.
Then he went off to Baylor. I didn't see him for awhile and he stopped being
a youth intern to be a music intern and a children's intern. So, I didn't get
to see him nearly as much.
When my senior year of high school was drawing to a close, I had lost interest
in the "dating game" and was not looking for any kind of relationship. I was
fixing to go off to Texas A&M that coming fall and I was anticipating
staring there fresh and unattached! That whole last semester I kept running
into Deron in various places. I even thought about asking Deron to take me to
prom, but I didn't want to risk losing my "big brother" if he started avoiding
me for asking.
About a month before I would leave for A&M, I saw him at church one Sunday
night. We started talking and trying to catch up on each others lives, but it
was taking so long that the group I was going out with after church invited
Deron to come with us. I found myself hoping he'd sit next to me at dinner
and he did!! We had a fun dinner and he listened so intently and with so much
interest, that I started hoping there might be something there between us.
The very next day I left on vacation for a week. The whole time I was gone, I
prayed that God would show me whether He wanted Deron and I together. When I
got back home, I was scheduled to go out with the same group from church. I
called my friend and asked her to let me ride in the car with Deron, she then
told me how Deron had talked to her about how he realized he had feelings for
me. I was so excited!
We went out that night and had a great time. We went out the next night with
the same group and then we went to a movie by ourselves. After the movie,
Deron and I talked and we agreed to start dating. After only 3 days, I
realized I was falling in love with him and that he would be the man I would
marry. I told him that he wanted out of the relationship, he should get out
right then because I was falling totally in love with him. He told me he
wasn't going anywhere and that he felt the same way.
We dated all the way through my days at A&M. It was hard being in a
long-distance relationship. And we had some tough times. But we always
pulled together in the end and got through everything. The end of our dating
came when Deron proposed to me on August 20, 2000.
I can hardly wait to be with him everyday for the rest of my life. He brings
me such joy and comfort, that I honestly don't know what I would do without
him. I can say, without any hesitation, that Deron completes me.
