LAUREL COUNTY, Ky. — In a perfect world, you would find what you are looking for, when you’re looking for it, but God had other plans for me.  With a fortress-like heart on a peculiarly cool, April evening, I met my Valentine.

As a Starbucks regular, I naturally waltzed into the illuminated coffee shop and ordered my favored caramel macchiato.  Nearby, a friend sat patiently waiting at a corner table as I made my way towards her.  With ease, we immediately began chatting about our days, and was interrupted by a handsome blonde slapping a bag of McDonald’s upon the table.

At that moment, I sort of skipped the polite introductions and I let my inner tree hugger roam free.  In a matter-of-fact tone, I informed him of the environmental injustices McDonald’s does to the world, and he simply responded with shrugged shoulders as he dove face first into his big greasy sandwich replying that no matter the collateral damage, “it’s delicious.”  

Since I wasn’t in the market for any relationship at the time, I just began saying whatever came to mind, surely making a fool of myself.  To my surprise, he never responded with a rude remark or walked away from the train wreck of a conversation and so, I continued speaking my mind.  I figured that I was going to share a mutual friend, I might as well let my true colors show.

As the evening of laughter and down right random conversation eventually came to a close, and the baristas were sweeping under our feet hinting for us to leave, I took one last savory sip of my now caramel-less macchiato.  I then realized, something that had immensely gone awry -- the entirety of my mouth was full of a coffee grounds.

Immediately, I cupped my right hand over my face to keep the soupy grit from escaping my tightly closed fingers, building up pressure like Hoover Dam.  The texture was just too much to bear and I accidentally gagged, causing the mixture to spew onto the floor and all over my face and shirt.  I was mortified.

After everyone had a good laugh, we all agreed that my little incident was the cue for everyone to leave and let the shop finally close.  

Later that evening, my friend contacted me to say that I left a good impression on the guy and that she, in fact, invited him just to meet me.  I was set up.

Many long conversations, meet-ups and coffee dates later, we both began to realize that we were practically made for each other.  The intriguing fact of the matter was that we were both were not looking for something or someone, and somehow we ended up together anyway.  

Like me, he too was a Starbucks regular and for a couple of years I’m sure we had crossed each other’s paths.  It was as if God was waiting for the perfect point in time for us to meet.  No matter how much I had embarrassed myself, God was sure of making his plans come to light, and so our epic love story began.



mmccrarey@sentinel-echo.com