Chance Happens

I was 23 and ready to graduate college with a confusion of what to do after school was over. My dad is a pilot and I fly standby on United flights. After playing competitive tennis all of my life, my knee had been completely swollen and in pain for about 6 months. I had been to many different doctors with no explanation of what was wrong with me. So I sucked it up and decided to use my standby pass to fly up to the Mayo Clinic in MN. I was waiting at the O’Hare airport and I spotted a cute guy. I was waiting in line at the security counter and the cute guy said “can i see your passport?” because he had always wanted a passport. We talked for a few minutes and then went our separate ways. Well, I saw him again at the gate, waiting to get on the flight to MN. He said he was going to visit a friend and go to the White Sox game. Turned out that his dad was a pilot for United also so he was flying standby. We both were bumped off of the flight and had a few hours until the next one. We went to the bar and had a drink and a truly great time. I really enjoyed this guys company. So we waited to get on the next flight and he did (his dad had better seniority for the airline) so we said goodbye, without exchanging info. It was a bit sad because i really liked this guy. SOO…2 days later, I am waiting at the MN airport to fly back to Chicago and I’m at the gate, and all of a sudden I see the boy! He and I were now at the Minnesota Airport waiting to get on the exact same flight back to Chicago! So we both got on, exchanged info, and went our separate ways once the plane landed in Chicago. We lived in different cities but tried to date. We tried to do the distance relationship thing but after a certain time, we realized it was too difficult. During the time we dated, Tim taught me so much about life, traveling, adventure, that i decided upon graduating that i wanted to travel, volunteer, and work abroad. And it’s exactly what I did and now, looking back 3 years ago, I see that I’m so happy with the route my life has taken and I have Tim to thank for that.