Wandering through life we come across people all of the time we know will only be faded memories before too long.

There was something different about Angie, though. The day I first saw her when I went in for my job interview I had a feeling she wasn't going to be added to the list of people I once knew.

We were both reporters at a small-town newspaper in Marble Falls, Texas. We spent many long days and nights following leads in a sleepy Central Texas community and sharing many laughs at our sources' expense. After going out on a few occasions for drinks we ended up desiring to be around each other more and more. It was after a weekend of housesitting for a coworker that we realized we were solidly unseperable.

Then we almost broke up. For whatever reason I thought this was not something I wanted and I told her I didn't want to do it anymore. Angie was leaving the newspaper and starting a full-time job in Austin, so that was enough for her to tell me she was never going to see me again.

That was the moment where I thought I might be married to this woman one day. I convinced her to give me another chance and our relationship grew immensely stronger from that point on.

Why did I do it?

I tried so hard to convince myself that being with her was not for me, not what I wanted, and I failed to see that I could not imagine ever being happy in my life without her. I didn't know for sure if it would end in marriage, but I had a hunch.

A year after that we got engaged on the footsteps of St. Louis Cathedral in the French Quarter of New Orleans.

I can't explain why some men do or do not want to get married. For me, the idea of being totally devoted to the love of a wonderful woman and receiving the same in return was very motivational.

Most of us in the world believe in a higher power or a omniscient creator of the world around us. Many of us also believe that it is this supreme authority that not only introduces us to this type of love, but allows for that love to flourish and be poured onto others. She turned my agnosticism into faith, because to me there is no way love just happens...we are destined for it.

Angie has opened my eyes up to the idea of love as a means of survival. Without it we are just living to get to the end and there is no point to what we do. I will do everything in my control to keep the fire of love for her and our life forever burning in my heart.

That New Orleans cathedral may have been locked and deserted for the night, but there was definitely something there giving us the courage to take that leap and set forth on our journey together.

-Jason Hanselka

Austin, TX  USA