I was lying in my bed, watching TV on a Saturday night like I had been doing for the past 3 months. Teara, who had gotten married and moved out, also 3 months before, came busting through my bedroom door and said, “Get up. You’re coming with me & Chris to Mark & Jacqui’s Halloween party.”

“No”, I said as I pulled the covers over my head. The same welcoming covers I turned to every time I had the chance to escape the world for that time.

3 months before, my then-boyfriend ruined my only sibling’s wedding for me, then dumped me the next day.

“Come on. You have to get up.”

“Stop. I’m not going to a party.”

I just wanted to be left alone to wallow in self-pity. Maybe I’d be extra cliché and eat ice cream in bed later.

“You really should go … PJ Petti is going to be there.”

Record scratch. Wait, what?

I peeked my eyes above the covers. “Really?”

“Yep.”

“If I go you better not embarrass me.”

“I won’t. I promise.”

I didn’t believe her but I also didn’t care. I wanted to see PJ Petti.

Luckily I always have some sort of costume or covert disguise on-hand, so I slipped into my German lederhosen and set out to find the Hansel to my Gretel.

PJ and I had met a little over 2 years prior and had a summer fling. He went back to college and we tried to do the long distance thing, but I was way too jealous when I’d hear his female friends in the background; so we went our separate ways.

Long, story short – we always knew what was going on in each other’s lives because PJ’s good friend from college, Nick, is my brother-in-law’s cousin. It’s one of the reasons I believe in fate, because we would literally have no other connection if it weren’t for that.

I’ll never forget, 18 years ago today, I was leaning against the counter in Mark & Jacqui’s kitchen, trying to play it cool while 1,000 butterflies fluttered in my stomach.

His friend Eric entered first, and then – like in the movies – PJ walked into the room in slow motion as my heart sped up. I’m pretty sure my pupils turned heart-shaped and shot out of my eyeballs.

He was dressed as the very PC costume, “white trash”, but man did he look good 😍 In that moment, all the lying-in-bed-eating-ice-cream feelings *poof* disappeared.

I not-so-subtly made my way over to him during the night, and the rest is history.

In the 18 years since that evening, I can count on one hand the times we’ve spent a full day apart – and it was never by choice.

He is the best friend I’ve ever had, the greatest father to our boys, and just an all-around good person who surprises me every day with an empathetic manner that others don’t get to see from him.

He’s my living proof that sometimes you need to go through some really dark times to truly appreciate the light that’s waiting for you on the other side.

I was going to end this blog with that last paragraph, but then PJ rolled a little too far onto my side of the bed. I pushed him away with my foot and he mumbled something in his sleep. I laughed because, well, I’m just lucky that he’s put up with a pain-in-the-ass like me for this long. 18 & life is right 😂❤️