You may or may not know this about me, but I LOVE Bollywood movies. The over-the-top romance was funny to me at first. Dancing through the streets, singing to each other, wearing crazy costumes, running to each other over bridges, running in the rain, running through fields of flowers. There is a lot of running in these films. Love gained, love temporarily lost, love found once again. Yeah, it's hokey, but it spoke to that part of me that wanted at least some of it to be true; to be possible.
I was a cynic when it came to romance and over-the-top ridiculous love. That is, until I met Tony.
Ladies and gentleman, I bring you....
My True Bollywood Story
Part 1
I didn't know on December 21st, 2010 that a comment left on my Christmas blog would end up changing my life forever. That day was the first time that Tony Alicea had stopped by The Dailies.
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| Tony J |
I knew who he was. I had found his blog, Expect the Exceptional, through a blogger friend of mine, Kristin, at Messiah Mom. I had read a few of his posts and commented once or twice before. There are a lot of amazing Christian bloggers in the world, but Tony has such an unique way of writing to inform, teach, inspire, and encourage. Any time I would read his posts I would feel challenged to be better, but also leave with the encouragement that I could do it. The day he commented on my blog, my immediate thought was, "What is he doing over here at my piddly little blog??" I wasn't sure how he found me, but I was happy that he had stopped by. It wasn't until my thirtieth birthday that things started to get interesting. That was the day that Tony asked to be my Facebook friend and that is when the sparks started to fly.
I knew from the beginning of our correspondence that something was different about the way Tony wrote to me than with anyone else, but I kept telling myself to forget even toying with the idea of us being anything other than friends. He lived in Florida and I lived in DC. I vowed never to meet someone over the internet, not even on match.com or eharmony. I didn't want to like him, but I couldn't help myself. I knew he liked me the day that he wrote this comment on my blog about quitting my job and moving back to WV.
I tried not to think too much about Tony. God had asked me to quit my job in DC, uproot my whole life, and move back to my homestate of WV. The last thing I wanted was to get a crush on some guy that lived a thousand miles away and get my heart broken while I am trying to find my footing in this new adventure God had called me to.
But God had other plans.
Shortly after my arrival in the Mountain State Tony sent me a personal email with some encouraging words and Scripture. This email started a chain of emails between us that started as a few shorts paragraphs and then becoming novels in length. A few days later, Tony asked me if he could call me on the phone. Forgetting the rule to play hard to get, I emailed him back within a manner of minutes with my emphatic 'yes'!! The night he called me, we were on the phone for over four hours without so much as a pause. We talked like we had known each other all our lives. We quickly scheduled another phone date.
Our second phone conversation was just amazing as the first. It was during this call that Tony did something that made my jaw drop. About three-fourths of the way through another 4 hours convo, he said this to me, "I am all about being up front and transparent about my intentions with you. Look, Katie, I like you. It's my intention to get to know you and pursue you." Wow. I sure wasn't used to guys doing that. This declaration meant that I wouldn't have to call my girlfriends up and wonder aloud if and when I might hear from Tony again. I didn't have to ponder if he was just a friendly brother in Christ trying to be an encouragement to me as I struggled through a super hard transition. Nope. I knew that he liked me. Up front. No guessing games. Knowing that gave me the freedom to relax and just be myself.
After our second phone call, Tony asked me if we could Skype. I didn't have a video camera on my computer and I had never Skyped, but I couldn't wait to talk with him "face to face". The first time we ever Skyped was on Valentine's Day. For the first few seconds of seeing each other on the screen all we could do was smile like idiots and blush.
From the very beginning I felt different with Tony than I had with any other man I had ever dated. His confidence and transparency allowed me to feel comfortable opening up to him not just about my past struggles and heartaches, but with my current hardships. It was always easier for me to tell stories of victory and come out the victor of battles fought and won, but it has always been really hard for me to share what is currently going on in my life. Especially with a guy that I want to like me back. But as Tony opened up to me, I felt comfortable opening up to him. Each time I told him something that I was afraid to share with him and he didn't freak out or judge me at all, I felt more and more at ease. He wouldn't just listen, he would pray with me and for me. It wasn't long until we decided that we needed to meet in person. Three weeks after our first phone call we made plans to meet in Washington, DC for a long weekend. We chose DC because it was neutral territory and had tons of fun things for us to do.
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| Waterfront in DC |
That weekend was surprising and awesome for me in so many ways. I could immediately tell that Tony was the real deal. I was so surprised by how immediately we clicked. I was super anxious about the whole "spending three days straight with someone I just met" situation, but just being around Tony made me feel relaxed. He was always careful to make sure I felt safe, protected, respected, and comfortable.
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| We're dorks |
Stay tuned for more...
Love,
Katie Mae
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