It's never too late

"Mom" told me to share my story about Correy, and I haven't really been able to yet. Nor am I really sure how to share it. So I'll just pretend that I'm sharing it with him, because I never got the chance to.

In my life I grew up with a lot of abuse, and by high school I pretty much had a consuming fear of guys. I didn't have any guy friends nor did I make any effort to. My life was routines to stay safe, and soccer to stay occupied and sane. I forget what year it was or even how I met Correy. I do know that at some point he sat behind me in our English class. He went out of h way to be kind to me, and we would always find ourselves in fits of laughter, laughing at something stupid. Correy had to be one of my first God encounters. Something about the way he treated me melted away a paralyzing fear that kept me hiding my entire life. I hid behind silence and behind a hard outer shell. I hid behind a mask of tough tomboy, but it didn't phase or really trick Correy. I'd say his kind heart was the first to crack my shell. It was the first time I felt safe, and for me that was truly a miracle.

You know, I think people take for granted love. We are all longing for some big moment. But I think Correy got it. I think he understood that just simply loving others in all the little ways was what truly mattered. Maybe it sounds corny, but the truth is for my life, that I doubt I'd be alive without my "date" with Correy.

Sometime during that year of English class, I somehow got the nerve up to ask him to our Senior year homecoming dance. I'd never been to a dance, and I'm honestly not sure how I even had the courage to do something like that at that point in my life. I think I made this huge cookie and once it was eaten there was a message asking him to the dance. The best part was that I accidentally embarrassed him really bad. But he recovered a day or so later and said he'd love to go.

It was awesome! I had recently had a major knee surgery so we wore slippers to the dance! I can truly say that I had so much fun. And the most meaningful thing to me was that I felt safe. He made me feel like royalty when I was in the darkest part of my life. It was like a light in the darkness, giving me hope that things could be different.

And now things are. Thanks Correy. I wish I'd been able to tell you this before, but I'm guessing you know now.

Britney Rowland