I remember feeling a sense of dread when the holidays would roll around. I was showing up single, again, and wondering when it would be my turn. When would I have my own family? Year after year, I went to my brother’s house for the holidays to play with my niece and nephew, but I felt like something was missing. I had the community and the love of my family, but I still wanted something more. Have you ever felt this way?

I felt the pang of loneliness. I was used to it, though; I lived alone and had become well-acquainted with silence. I learned to enjoy my own company, but it didn’t make the longing for companionship go away. I laughed and cried and prayed about being single. It was a cycle of longing, trusting, and hoping that one day I would meet the love of my life.

In the meantime, my mom was right there with me. My mom was always ready for an adventure; she traveled the world with me so I wouldn’t have to go alone. She listened intently as I cried or told her about another awful date. She would tell me that she believed I would meet my husband one day. Some days I believed her, and others I didn’t. I saw my friend’s lives and compared my timeline to theirs. They got married and had kids young, and one day I would be ‘the old mom’. Why was life unfolding like this? Some days I honestly felt like I was being punished.

I thought about giving up and losing all hope, then October 2020, changed my life. During the pandemic, I decided to get out of the box and leave online dating behind. I worked with a matchmaker who matched me with a man named Marcel, and on October 28, I met him for the first time on Zoom. Yes, I said Zoom because at the time he lived in Ohio, and I lived in Georgia. I remember being so nervous and excited. After our matchmaker introduced us and Marcel and I talked for 20 minutes, we got off the call and the matchmaker shared with each of us the other’s contact information. Marcel called me 10 minutes later, and we talked for another hour and a half. That was the beginning of a beautiful relationship.

We spent a year back and forth on flights, visiting each other, and taking trips to new places. We fell in love. We both felt like we’d finally met the person we had been waiting for. On October 16, 2021, Marcel proposed to me at a winery. It was the most beautiful moment. My brother married us two months later on December 18. We had a beautiful celebration with our parents and my brother and his family. We will never forget that day.

Now I am reminded of how fast time flies and how gracious God is. Three years later, I am cooking Thanksgiving dinner with my mom—in the house my husband and I bought. She is passing down all the family knowledge about holiday recipes while our puppy is sleeping next to my feet. I am just so proud of the life Marcel and I have built together.

We both had sleepless and hopeless nights. We both wondered if our dreams of being married and making our own traditions would come true…and here we are today—living in the dream we almost let die. And I get to share in this joy with my mom, the woman who loved me so well and knew true love would find me one day. For me, this is the legacy of love.

Sis, what are you waiting for and thinking about giving up on? Can I encourage you to reconsider? Maybe all is not lost—there is still hope to be found in your story. Don’t give up yet! Hang on!