Those five words flipped my life upside down.
I was 24, rocking a name tag at Tommy Bahama’s, clearly living the dream and climbing the corporate ladder of floral shirts.
One night, a buddy dragged me out to Emma’s Back Porch, and I unknowingly plopped myself down in some British girl’s chair.
She wasn’t having it. That British girl? Yeah, she’s now my wife.
It wasn’t a fairy tale. Early on, I forgot my wallet twice. TWICE. The first time was embarrassing. The second time? Honestly, I’m surprised she didn’t run for the hills.
Meeting my family was a disaster, too. She showed up with the flu, left early, and probably questioned every decision that got her to that moment.
But somewhere between me fumbling through dates and her silently judging my Tommy Bahama “career,” she saw potential, or maybe a fixer-upper.
She was a lawyer back in the UK, after all. Me? I was the guy who could match floral shirts to any customer’s vibe. Clearly, we were not on the same playing field.
But she lit a fire under me. I had to level up. No more coasting, no more excuses. She didn’t just inspire me; she forced me to figure out who I was supposed to be.
Fast forward: three kids, countless laughs, and a whole lot of growing up later. Did I get it all right? Nope. But I like to think I did okay.
Funny how life works, right? One wrong seat. One random night. And everything changes.
You ever think about your “wrong seat” moment? How something so small ended up rewriting your whole story?
Because that’s the thing about life.
It doesn’t wait for you to be ready, it throws you into the deep end and says, “Figure it out.”
- Justin
