“I’d never had a serious boyfriend before. I certainly wasn’t engaged. But when Dad started to get really sick, we decided to have a daddy-daughter dance. We did it during my cousin’s wedding. My dad chose the song: ‘If I Didn’t Have You,’ by Amanda Marshall. When he passed away I engraved my favorite lyric from the song onto a necklace, along with a copy of his thumbprint. Dad had been my very best friend, and after his death I couldn’t get out of bed for months. Everyone kept promising that things would get better, but I felt completely lost. I think the travelling began as a way to find myself again. I went to Ireland, and Norway, and Jamaica. Then in 2018 I took a trip to Cambodia to visit a friend who was teaching there, and that’s when I discovered the green dress. It was in a small shop. And it seemed like a perfect bridesmaid’s dress for an upcoming wedding. Since I didn’t have any cash on me, I took a photo of the dress, and I texted it to my friend once I got home to Canada. Unfortunately it was a wrong number. The message got sent to a completely random guy. His name was Sean. He was on a work visa from Scotland. And we ended up having a funny little back-and forth. The girls at my office were egging me on, so we kept up our conversation for several days. We seemed to have a lot in common, so eventually we decided to meet at Starbucks. And to be honest I wanted it to work. My entire life people had been assuring me that it would be effortless when I met ‘The One.’ And what could be more effortless than a wrong number? There was instant chemistry between us. We took a walk after our coffee, and ended up spending three hours together. We went on several more dates over the next few months. Sean met all my friends and family, and all of them kept saying the same thing: ‘He is so much like your father.’ We’ve been together for two years now. And not only have I grown to love him, but Sean has taught me how to love myself. Last month we were finally married. Sean wore a kilt. And I wore the green dress, along with the necklace with my father’s thumbprint. On the back were the lyrics of our song, only now the words had new meaning: ‘This Love Is a Gift.’”

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