When Errol met Georgia – a surprisingly unromantic love story.

(all the beautiful photography included in this post is credited to my talented big sister, Hailey)

Would you believe the very first time I laid eyes on this husband of mine was Valentines Day 2006?

 He was on bended knee handing me a rose.

For realz.

Handing me… and every other girl in the room a rose that is

It was orientation camp at our small Christian university and we were supposed to be bonding with our future class mates. Errol and his friends had decided as student council members it would be sweet to give each of the girls attending a rose to thank them for giving up their valentines with their beloveds. I didn’t have a beloved and I didn’t want to be at orientation camp anyway so I dropped that rose over the balcony on my way back to my room to play Ben Harper really loud and wonder how I ended up bunked in with a bunch of ‘goody, goody’ girls (yeah, I was 17 years old and rocking my bad attitude).

So lets fast forward a bit to May the following year. Errol and I had developed a lovely friendship and were hanging out quite a bit. I was newly single and he was newly out of trouble with the law (I am kidding… but not really) so we had resolved not to date anyone. And certainly not each other. Most of our spare time was filled planning an adventure to the Philippines where we both felt drawn to work with those in need. He was my best friend.

That May we went to The Planting which is an annual event hosted at Woodfordia. People come to plant trees, camp and listen to folk music. Errol and I had each invited a friend to come camp with us but last minute both our friends pulled out which left just the two of us going. I didn’t really think that was strange or awkward because Errol was a great friend and I hadn’t ever thought of him beyond that. But let me tell you, it was both strange and awkward when Errol came into my tent while I was sleeping that first night to shake me and say “I HAVE TO TALK TO YOU – MAN TO WOMAN!”

Given I had been fast asleep when he declared this I told him to get out of my tent and wait till morning… except not in those words (I’m charming at 1am, what can I say?).

He left quietly and eventually curiosity as to what he could have wanted got the better of me and I went to find him.

He was asleep in the backseat of his little old Ford so I slid into the back seat and demanded to know what the heck had warranted him waking me and what he NEEDED to tell me.

I don’t want to embarrass him… but what followed was quite tragically adorable. With his eyes large and passionate he began a cascade of well-meaning but incredibly corny declarations including (but not in the least bit limited to) “You make me want to be a better man, I love you”.

 While in hindsight this is so endearing, it was incredibly uncomfortable for me at that moment. I did not have any of these feelings for Errol and as he continued gushing I became increasingly cross with him ‘How could he spoil our lovely friendship like this?’ I fumed. It’s not possible to be best friends with someone who’s in love with you!

I waited until Errol had finished his effusive sentiments to tactfully say “Um… that’s very sweet of you. I… have to go” before diving out the door and running back to my tent.

I continued my inner dialogue fuming at Errol from my uncomfortable camp bed. “How are we going to be friends now? How will it work going to the Philippines with a boy who’s in love with me… that’s not appropriate!”.

 Why oh why had Errol done this? As my mind tends to do these thoughts spiraled out of control detailing all the ramifications of my best friend declaring he was in love with me.

Suddenly though, the greatest consequence of his confession and my response became clear to me… if I wasn’t the girl Errol married then… someone else would be. And not only would she be the one that married him but SHE would be the one to share the rest of his life with him. Someone else was going to spend the rest of their lives with MY best friend!

The thought of this nearly stopped my heart. Without realising it I had inadvertently assumed that Errol and I would share our lives together and when I realised that there was a high chance I wouldn’t get to be that person I knew I would do everything to earn that honour. I didn’t want to live a life without him by my side.

I wanted to rush right back to him and say “ I WAS CRAZY! WE SHOULD BE TOGETHER ALWAYS” but I figured I should play it cool.

What I didn’t know at that stage is that directly before coming to my tent to declare his undying love Errol had been cornered by my mother who was also at The Planting. Unlike me she hadn’t been oblivious to Errol’s feelings for me and had pulled him aside to suggest to him he should consider running away. What she said was along the lines of  “Georgia isn’t the one to marry if you want to be the star player. She’s strong and she’s going to change the world. And life with her isn’t going to be easy” Errol nodded quietly, thanked my mother for the advice and literally ran to my tent to tell me he wanted to be the one to share his life with me.

 Errol knew what he wanted and to my (continual) utter surprise and honour it was me.

 That following morning I told Errol that I was open to developing feelings for him and develop they did.  By the next afternoon I was wondering how I could have been so blind! This incredibly handsome boy who was kind hearted and shared my deepest desires was my BEST FRIEND? Why wouldn’t it be great if I could jump his bones too ( I am kidding… but not really).

Within a week we were ‘dating’ (although the topic of marriage was already broached before we committed to date, we both felt dating was pointless if we didn’t want to get married and soon!) and true to our word… we were married within 6 months.

…and we’re still rather fond of each other

Photography gifted to us by Hailey Batholomew