Where they do that at???

So we often joke about “what could have been”. You all know our little love story and how magically fast it all happened. I (we) still get the side eye when we tell our story to strangers. Even if they don’t say it, their face always expresses, "Where they do that at?!"

7 months in and it still feels good. Granted 7 months isn't a great amount of time. However, before I got married, a 7 month relationship was ground breaking. I was actually known for being disgruntled in relationships and often made it "convenient" for women to break up with me (don’t judge me).

I assume the biggest reason we get the side eye is because getting engaged on the first date, after only one conversation and a hand full of internet exchanges, is particularly troubling. Mostly due to the fact(s) that you haven’t accounted for all of the things that could potentially go wrong. The “what ifs”, if you will. Even if you do it the “right way” you still run the risk that your spouse may change, feelings may change, the world may change. Guess what??? That’s everyone, in every relationship. Yeah I know, that’s hippie talk. It isn’t lost on me that dope eloping was full of risk, but you don’t think of that when “you know”… so let’s think about it now…. Any of the following could have stopped (or hindered) our awesomeness:

LIKE:

• What if the sex isn’t good?
• What if one of us had incurably bad breath?
• What if she had Lela Rochon's feet (Boomerang)
• What if we don't get along?
• What if I had athletes foot, ALL THEE TIME?
• What if I ran illegal cock fights on the weekends?
• What if our families don't get along?
• What if you values didn’t align?
• What would I have done if she turned out to be a ratchet queen?
• What if my kids hate her?
• What if I had a felony case pending?
• What would she have done if I kept an arsenal of guns in my trunk for sale?
• What is she was a Redskins fan?

You probably can think of ten more. Luckily for us there weren’t a ton of “deal breakers” that caused us to spiral downward. When courting, deal breakers rear their ugly heads and you get to say “whew, I dodged a bullet” when you break up. We, on the other, hand, decided that no hill would be insurmountable (we prayed). With all of that said, and I’m not a “luck” type of dude, but we got lucky. The odds were stacked against us because, after all “where they do that at?" 

​Most people take years getting to know their mate before making the decision to enter into a full time partnership and yet all of us married folk are aware of the high divorce rates in America (they vary depending where you research). The fact of the matter is no matter whether to take 90 days to dope elope or if you tease it out for two years, the chances for success are about the same. 
​

Stay Dope on Valentine's Day,

​ERAC