Shawn Patrick Hunter has been in my life for about two years now, and oh what an adventure it has been. I'd be lying if I told you it was love at first sight. Nope, far from it. I mean, this man that I don't even know has the nerve to waltz into my workplace and criticize my mothering skills? Oh, how I wanted to smash that plate over his head.
Once I realized his true intentions and he realized mine, we had an understanding of each other. We both got left, we were the stayers. He helped mend the broken relationship between my daughter and I, and before I knew it, he was mending the broken pieces of my heart.
I could talk to him for hours about anything and everything. I found myself opening up to him in ways I'd never opened up to another soul before. We had so much in common, we were both craving a tender kind of love, both craving something different. Deep down we wanted to believe that we could love again.
I thought to myself, this was too good to be true. He cared for my daughter, there was no reason to pretend to care for me. I now know that I couldn't have been more wrong. His kind heart had enough room for the both of us and he continued to prove that in all of his actions.
As cliché as this may sound, our first date was like a fairytale. We went to an intimate little Italian restaurant for dinner. He remembered when I told him Italian food was my favorite. The whole time we were there, he never took his eyes off me. To this day, he still looks at me that way, a type of pure love and admiration I never knew until I met Shawn. He took me to the park after dinner, we walked together and we held hands the entire time.
Butterflies surrounded us along the path and they matched the butterflies I got in my stomach every time he smiled. When he dropped me off home, he was such a gentleman, I could tell he wanted to kiss me. Lord knows I wanted to kiss him. I looked in his eyes in a way that said "It's okay. I want this just as much as you do." And he kissed me. From that moment on, I knew it was love. I'd never felt like this before.
After that date, he'd stop by after every photography assignment just to see us, he'd often call me because he said the sound of my voice was comforting to him. With him, I always felt so safe and protected. We went on plenty of dates after that, and I got to know him so much better after each one, and he got to know me just as well.
Of course, I was scared of opening myself up to someone out of fear of being hurt again, but Shawn would never hurt me. He loves me.
When we'd been dating for a while, our dates became a little more intimate. He brought me to his cabin Upstate where he cooked us a romantic dinner and that night was when we first said "I love you", that night we made love for the very first time. He was so gentle and attentive to all my needs. He worshipped my body like I was his entire universe.
He craved me like I was craving him. It was everything I imagined it would be and so much more. I was alive again for the first time in so many years. Shawn Patrick Hunter brought me back to life.
The day he proposed. That day. The day my world changed forever. I had been so afraid to love so deeply. It was hard for me to fully grasp the concept that I loved Shawn and he loved me. Then, I wasn't afraid anymore. All I knew was that I loved that man with every inch of my heart and soul.
He hit me with those five words that my soul had yearned for. "I'm in love with you." I was so taken by surprise, yet so enamored by his reckless spontaneity. He followed what was in his heart and all his heart wanted was me. For the rest of his life.
Of course, I said yes and I married the love of my life. It's hard to imagine that there was ever a time in my life that I didn't have him. My husband, my best friend, my soul mate.
Not a day goes by that he doesn't let me know how much he loves me. He held to his promise. Not only does he tell me, he shows me in his every day actions. Not only the grand gestures, but the little things like ordering my favorite meal from the Chinese restaurant and playing my favorite movie.
Or the intimate things like the way he holds my face when he kisses me, or when he traces little circles with his thumb when he holds my hand. The way every day is like an adventure because we make love multiple times a day like two hormonal teenagers madly in love with each other.
We were both so broken, but now our pieces are whole again and I think that is so beautiful. He is beautiful. And these are the many reasons why I love Shawn Patrick Hunter with everything in me.