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Kathryn Phillips Mr. Neuburger Comp 101-101 27 January 2013 Narrative Essay Second Chances Have you ever walked right out the door and fell right into your future? Since the office that I was working in was moving down the walk way to another office space, I was carrying three boxes of office supplies to the new office. I leaned with my back on the door to push it open, and it felt like someone was pulling on the door. Yep someone was pulling to open the door, and out I went. I fell right back and knocked the jerk over that opened the door and landed right on top of him. My office supplies flew all over the walkway, and I lay there all sprawled out and on top of some strange guy. When my brain finally caught up with itself, I jumped up ready to start yelling at this stupid man who pulled the door that I was leaning on, and that's when it happened...I found my future. He was apologizing and saying to me how sorry he was, and that all he was trying to do was open the door and take the boxes from me to carry them to wherever I was going with them. I was happy to let him help me carry the boxes, since I had been doing this now for

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about eight hours, but that was as far as I thought it would, or needed to go. A few days later he came into the new office just to see how things were and to see if I was ok. I told him I was fine and that the only thing that I had hurt was my pride. He laughed and asked me out for dinner after work some night. I politely declined and told him that I had a lot going on. See my husband had just died, and we had two children so they were all that I could really had time think about. So that was that, or so I thought. A few days later some roses were delivered to the office. I remember thinking about how lucky whoever the roses were for. I never realized how much I missed getting flowers from Stephen. My birthday had just passed and I always got roses from him on my birthday. Imagine my surprise when I found out they were for me. I just thought that maybe my mom and dad sent them to me because it had been such a rough week, so I left the card alone for a while and went on about my day. Lunch rolled around, and I always ate lunch at my desk, and while eating I decided to call my mom and thank her for the flowers. She had no idea what I was talking about. I took the card out of the flowers and read what it said, Thanks for the great fall. It was the best thing that has happened to me in a long time. If you change your mind about dinner call me, and left his number. I decided to call and explain to him that I really appreciated the gesture, but

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after Stephen died I was alone with our kids and all I really had time for was work and them. He told me that he wasn't asking for marriage, and it was only dinner. He told me he didn't even have to pick me up that we could just meet, so I agreed and we went out for dinner. We took Chinese to a park and for the first time in a long time I laughed. While we were at the park eating, we talked about him and his kids and me and my kids. I found out that we really had a lot more in common than I thought we would. I felt really guilty and decided that was it. I couldn't do that to my kids or to Stephens memory, so I just wouldn't go out again. The next week Danny Ray popped back into the office with more flowers and asked me out again. I told him I was sorry but that I had made plans to take my kids to Chuckie Cheese. I remembered he had said that place was going to be the death of him and didn't care if he ever went back there. I went ahead and decided to take the kids there,; I guess to make sure that I didn't lie. Maybe I hoped he would show up there I don't really know why I went there. While we were there, he walked in with two of the cutest kids I have ever seen. He brought them over and introduced them to me and I called my kids over and introduced them and off they went. His two kids were about the same age as my kids so they paired off and did their own things. It was kind of cool because Kearstain and Checotah were a few years apart in age, and what was

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fun for one wasn't fun for the other. Now they had someone closer to their age to hang out with. From that point on we spent a lot of downtime together and the kids became really close. The kids are the ones that actually decided that we should get married, However, I disagreed and thought that he did too. After about a year he asked me to marry him. I told him I was sorry but I just couldn't, and if he didn't want to see me anymore I understood. He warned me that he was the one that kept on until I finally went out with him, so I shouldn't expect him to give up anytime soon. On our second year together he asked me again, and I told him again that I really still didn't feel like I could at that point or even ever, get married again. About three months passed and he asked me again, but this time in front of a lot more people. I didn't want to embarrass him, so I said yes with the full intention of never setting a date. He admitted to me later that was the reason that he asked me in front of people because he knew that I wouldn't say no. He also told me that he knew my intentions to never set a date so he did it already and it was in six weeks. Holy crap, six weeks! Was he serious? Yes, he was. So there, I did it. I married the man that 2 years ago I was ready to kill for making me fall hard on the concrete walk way in front of my office.

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Instead of just add water, just add a ring and boom, instant family. Suddenly, I went from a son named Checotah, and a daughter named Kearstain to three sons named whose names were Checotah, Cory and Devin and a daughter named Kearstain. Just like that we were the Brady bunch minus two. I guess what it really all boils down to is chivalry isnt dead and GOD for guys that open doors for women, even if they don't always think it all the way through. Because my future opened the door for me and I landed right where I should have. In the arms of the most wonderful second chance that I have ever received.