They always say that you'll just know.

They always say that you'll just know. I thought they were full of it. I really did. After years of dating people who were either bad for me, or just not the right fit, I was completely burned out. And I hate to admit that everyone was right, but they were.

I'll tell you when I knew. It was Thursday, June 11th, 2009. It was late, and I was driving anxiously down to JFK to fly to Vegas for a long-awaited girls' weekend to catch up with El and Ash, two of my best girlfriends who I have known since elementary and high school. It was late that night, and rainy, and I was incredibly stressed. I had never flown out of JFK before, never driven to JFK in this rush hour traffic, never parked at JFK, and had never been to Vegas. It was the longest period of time I had left my newly adopted kitty Linus for, and the tension in the car was palpable, though I was alone. As I neared the airport, it got worse. I began to stress about where to park, how much it would cost, and if they'd accept credit cards, if I could get my car out when I came back on the red eye--I know it sounds crazy, but these are the kinds of things I worry about. The unknown.

Suddenly, in my panic, I realized I had not prepared for this venture, and I frantically thought of who I could reach out to. It was late, most everyone I knew was busy; I didn't want to bother them with my insanity. Then I thought of K. We had met less than a month before, we barely knew each other, and I immediately dismissed the thought of asking him for help. But as the miles went by, and I got closer to my destination, deep panic set in. Driving with one hand, I sent him a quick text message asking if he could look up a phone number to JFK so I could get my questions answered. He replied a few minutes later with "of it", and I frustratedly tossed my phone on the seat next to me, regretting my decision. What the hell was I thinking? He was clearly drunk, probably out with his friends, another one of those party guys who only cared about getting wasted--his jumbled text message reflected that. Tears welled up in my eyes, and I was overwhelmed with a mixture of panic, sadness, and disappointment that he wasn't the person I thought he was. Just another one like the rest of the guys I'd dated, I thought to myself.

I calmed myself down a bit and managed to work out the worst-case scenario in my head. It helped a little. Two cigarettes and a can of coke later, I heard my phone ring on the seat next to me. Who the hell could that be? Keeping my eyes on the road as best I could, I opened my phone. It was a two-page text from K, stating that he had been on the phone with Jet Blue for the last half hour, and here were the two best phone numbers he could find for me, one for the front desk and one for the direct line to the Jet Blue desk. Later, I would find out that he was working in a small upstate town that week, (he travels quite a bit for work) had a steak on the grill when he got my text, jumped in the car and had to drive ten minutes to even get to a place where there was enough cell service to make that call to Jet Blue for me. Also the reason for the mistyped text, which should have read "on it."

I stared at my phone in disbelief, tears in my eyes, disbelief and overwhelming happiness washing over me. And that was the moment I knew I was in love with him. It had been less than a month, a whirlwind start to our relationship. But in that moment, I suddenly realized that he was the person I had been waiting for who I could count on, someone who would always come through for me. I had never had that before.

I had a great time that weekend, it was wonderful catching up with my girlfriends. We had a blast, danced until we couldn't stand, even met Larry Fitzgerald and took some photos with the NFL star. But if you ask either one of my girlfriends, K was all I could talk about that weekend, and over a year later, he's still all I can talk about. I know he will always be there for me, always be someone I can depend on. I love him more than I ever thought I could love someone, and I honestly feel so blessed to have him in my life.