Journey to Phil, Part 4

You can find the previous parts to this story on the last three Tuesday posts :) 

SO we were officially now Boyfriend and Girlfriend. And we were very happy with this arrangement. Phil was always a perfect gentleman while we were dating, and made me feel like a princess. He was thoughtful and funny and perfect in very way. Except that he wouldn't kiss me.

 (Mom, cover your eyes)

 I was dying to kiss him, really, and every night my roomie Annie would ask if he had kissed me yet, and for three weeks straight after we were a "couple" I had to tell her no. Until the day I could finally tell her yes, but we'll get to that later :)

(Okay Mom, you can open your eyes now)

So we only had the chance to start our relationship when my now ex-boyfriend (who happened to look just like Zach Efron) came over to visit. I tried to explain to Phil that I had to spend time with my ex (we'll just call him Zach) because he knew nobody but me. Phil said he understood, and we even made plans to travel with a big group of friends to Hungary that weekend and stay at Buddy's house. Phil went ahead with the group to Hungary, and Annie and I went to the Vienna airport to pick up Zach and then travel on to Hungary to meet up with everybody. We were able to pick him up and get on the right train just in the nick of time, which was good, because back then we didn't have cell phones to let people know of a change in plans. Hanging out with Zach on the train was a bit awkward, but he was trying very hard to act like normal friends. Phil and Buddy met us at the train station in Hungary, and everyone was introduced, and we all headed to Buddy's house for dinner.

At some point during this weekend, Zach took Phil outside for a "talk" and basically told him that he was going to win me back. I didn't know about this little occurrence, and I was trying my best to let Phil know I wanted to be with him, but was forced to hang out with Zach as well. On the train ride home from Hungary to Austria, Phil spent a lot of time talking to the girls in the group, who informed him to break up with me because I must need more time between boyfriends. What Phil didn't know was that one of those girls had a HUGE crush on him, and all her friends wanted nothing more than to see them together. Girls!

So, once we arrived back in Gaming, Phil asked me to take a walk with him, and he told me he thought we needed to break up. I was shocked, and ran off to my room and cried for a long time. I was so mad at myself for hurting Phil by spending time with Zach in front of him, even though I had tried to prepare him for it. I truly cared about Phil's feelings, and I shouldn't have cared quite so much about being polite to Zach. Phil was really upset over everything as well, and when he saw I wasn't at dinner, he came to find me. We had a good long talk, and I told him he should go talk to a priest because he was getting mixed messages from everywhere, especially those silly girls.

So off to Fr. Dennis he went, and it was the.best.thing he could have done. Fr. Dennis was clear-headed and impartial, and could see that the girls were creating unnecessary drama. He told Phil to follow his heart, and Phil followed it all the way back to ME. He apologized, and I apologized, and that was the first and last time we ever broke up :)

As we rekindled our relationship, we were realizing how serious we were, and how fast it was happening. We were both taking a class on Christian marriage, so we were able to talk a lot about our ideas of marriage without it being too personal. We openly discussed everything from chastity, the length of time for an engagement, Natural Family Planning, children, career goals, and we were always on the same page.  I just knew he was The One :) 

I had mentioned to my mom on the phone one evening that I was dating Phil (she had known that we were friends) and she said "I told you so! I just knew it!"  I quickly remembered her prediction back when I was 16, that I would meet my husband in Austria. I got goosebumps then, and still do now, when I think about that vision of hers. When I had left for Austria, it wasn't even on my mind because I was dating somebody else, and I had written it off as her being crazy years before :) And here I was, dating a guy I met in Austria.

I got off the phone, and went to see Phil, who could tell I was pretty shaken up about something. I warned him he was going to think this was crazy, and then proceeded to tell him of my mom's prediction for me. Now, most guys would have probably freaked out, but not Phil , he just smiled and gave me a big hug. What a man!  He said he was planning on keeping me around for a long time too.

Our school was planning the 10 day trip we all took together to Rome and Assisi. We all boarded buses and drove to Assisi for a couple days, then to Rome and eventually to a Wednesday Papal Audience (this year, it would occur on Ash Wednesday). Because I was so in love with Pope John Paul II, I was beyond excited to see him again. And this trip would be even more special now that Phil was at my side...