With Love, Jeida & Tariq.

S e p t e m b e r 2 6, 2 0 1 3 

changed everything for me. It was a Thursday. Thursdays were my favorite day of the week because those were the days we reunited after his frequent business trips. This particular trip felt unbearably long and I couldn’t wait to see my king face-to-face. That morning he told me that he wanted to share something with me that night. I could tell from his tone that it was serious, but he tenderly reassured me that all was well and asked me, “Do you trust me?” I did, so I knew I need not worry.

That night, we met in Atlantic Station for dinner with friends and then we whisked away to our favorite spot—a rooftop overlooking the Atlanta skyline. The “spot” is our favorite place to go when we wanted to be alone, isolated, intimate in conversation with God and with each other. It was only fitting that we escaped to our usual place of solace.

We stepped out of the car, the wind whipping around us. I embraced him and rested my head on his chest. I could hear his heart racing, pounding as though it threatened to burst through his skin. I looked up at him and searched his eyes for an answer, some sort of hint as to what he might say next. He took my hand and we sat beside each other on the curb. Finally, he looked at me and told me everything that was on his heart. He told me secrets that no one else knew; he told me about his past and his childhood, the parts he didn’t particularly like; he told me about his fears and insecurities… With each breath, he stripped himself more and more until he was left completely vulnerable and exposed to me. I held him close and whispered, “Love keeps no record of wrongdoing.” That is when the tears overwhelmed us both. I remember pulling away from him, holding his face in my hands and looking into his tear-filled brown eyes. I thought,

I am going to marry him. He was willing to show me all of himself and after knowing it all…I know I love him. Not only that…I love him more than I ever thought I did before.

This is real love. When you see every side of a person and love them the same. When their flaws and their shortcomings don’t cause you to break out and run away, but grab them and hold them close. You want to love them better, harder, more intensely. That’s how I loved Tariq that night. That’s how he chooses to love me every day. I have found a love in my man that reminds me of God’s love: fervent, passionate, unrelenting, fierce, intentional, and unconditional. I have learned many things in my relationship with Tariq. One of my favorite lessons is that you will never love a perfect person (as there is no perfect person), but true love perfects us. When we are weak, true love doesn’t falter under pressure; it is strengthened and fortified.

That night, as he held me tightly, he told me,

“If I had a ring, I would get down on my knee right now.”

I laughed.

“Would you say yes?”

I n a h e a r t b e a t.