All the time we hear about love. It’s in movies, books, or any other type of social media and we always picture it more so as a fairy tale rather than real life. I did also until my sister, Brooke, experienced her real life fairy tale.
“It had been a beautiful and eventful day. I woke up and went to my bible study, then to my classes and had just finished up with a sorority event. It was late so Brad and I went to Hawks Nest, a dining hall on campus, to eat dinner. It was right before they closed so it was pretty much empty. Then two guys walked in and I noticed one particularly. Moments later after I began eating, I saw them walking toward us. I began to realize they were coming to sit beside Brad and I. “Um… I’m going to the bathroom now.” said Brad. “Brad. No.” I told him. He went anyways. What do I do? I’m a shy girl and it didn’t help that Brad left me alone. Luckily one of them spoke up once they sat down, but it was the cute one. “Is that your boyfriend?” he asked. I felt my face start to turn red as I said no and quietly laughed. When Brad came back and joined us at the table, we all started talking and finished eating. The cute guy introduced himself as Nathan. As the dining hall began to close we exchanged numbers and planned to meet up the next day. As I walked back to my dorm room, all I think about is how great tomorrow would be.

After attending my morning classes, Nathan was waiting for me at the library. We walked around campus, ate lunch, and then went to the beach. Nathan and I talked about everything. It was so easy to be around him because of his great personality. Everything had been picture perfect. That afternoon while sitting beach, Nathan told me about his plans to join the army in only a short two months. The first thing that came to my mind was the question “What does this mean for us?” I had no idea what to do. My mind was telling me to just get out of this situation before things go too serious but my heart was telling me to stay. I knew that I was already falling in love. Over the next couple months we enjoyed every moment we had together. The months came and went but then it was time for Nathan to leave. While he was in basic training, I stayed focused on my studies but I couldn’t help but to feel our love grow deeper after each letter we wrote. Eventually basic was over and he was stationed on a base near my university. Things were going great. We’d talk any chance we got and on the weekends we would take turns driving to each other. Of course, everything is always changing in the military and next thing we knew, Nathan was being sent to Italy.”

This was just the beginning of my sister’s fairytale.

It was almost time for Nathan to leave for Italy when he built up the courage to propose. By this point they were so in love and they knew their love was real. Sadly, Nathan only had four days left in the states. Knowing the only way that he’d be able to see Brooke every day is if she moved also, but this was only possible if they got married. So Nathan and Brooke knew what they had to do. There was no way that they could go four years without seeing each other. So they talked to Mom and after a long night she agreed to let them get married. By this point, Nathan only had 48 hours left until it was time to leave. Nathan and Brooke had just planned on going to the courthouse to get married but Mom knew how much a wedding would mean to Brooke. She was always talking about wedding planning, her dress, and making it a magical night. A wedding meant everything to her.
In just 24 hours, Mom had put together a full wedding with the help of the community and God. There was no way this night could have been anymore magical.

The next day Nathan left for Italy and soon after so did Brooke. Even though I didn’t want to see them leave, I knew this was God’s plan. Being able to see their love grow so much in just a few short months proved to me that all the fairy tales we hear about that we believe never come true, defiantly do. I know that one day I will experience the same love she has.