just a glimpse

It's amazing how God has planned everything ahead of our time, and you never quite grasp when it all began or where it would go, what it could eventuate into, and the significance it would hold. That one particular moment when he rushed past me on the train didn't count, since we were strangers who just happened to catch the same train every now and then. That description could fit dozens of people I know.

It seemed so casual then, so silly when it is anything but that now. He was the highlight of my mornings, my eye candy, and the reason I saved money on petrol, as public transport suddenly became convenient. He was my biggest crush, the subject of my daily text to my best friend about that handsome guy on the train. No big deal.

Things got interesting when I handed that stranger my phone number. It was a momentary decision without any follow-up plans. The ball left my court, and I was confident it would bounce back. Maybe I was optimistic and romantic or just deluded and egotistical—whatever the reason, I was right to count on my instincts. We clicked on the very first phone call; our chemistry radiated through the mobile line, and I didn't hesitate when he asked to meet up the next day.

Two and a half years later, when we catch the train together now, my mind spins like a vintage movie reel, winding back the months and years to that initial encounter. It always strikes me as a little crazy—in a positive sense—that my spontaneous act had scripted the creation of something that would shape my life so dramatically down the track, like a speeding train.

We've been dating for almost one and a half years, and while that's not a long time, it’s long enough for us to know we want to make a lifetime commitment to each other. It's long enough for us to start considering it, long enough for us to learn our differences and get along famously, and long enough for me to meet his family and fall in love with them. I crave his mother's cooking and comfortably watch television with his parents in his absence. Long enough for me to realise that my first glimpse of him opened my eyes to a wonderful tale that, if God willing, we could one day tell our children and their children.