Ashleigh and I’s fate has been intertwined since before we were even born. Many, many, years ago when our parents were young, her mom and my mom were friends in high school. They attended separate colleges, and began their new adult lives. Flash forward to February 2001, Mardi Gras is firing up and even though both moms were very pregnant they made the decision to go party it up not knowing the gravity of the following week.

I was relaxing in my womb about 5 days before my arrival date when all of the sudden I felt a disturbance in the force. Wanting to investigate, I squirmed and squirmed until I was born four weeks earlier than expected. Being a baby, I did not have the ability to explore the outside world, so I made a plan; I was going to bide my time and wait till I was old enough to venture out on my own and find the source of this special feeling. Occasionally this feeling would grow stronger and stronger, hinting to me that the feeling or person was close by. Sometimes it felt as if they were in the same room as me. So close yet unattainable in my baby form.

Only time would tell.

After Katrina my family decided to move to north Mississippi causing the feeling to fade. Only during Christmas time would it return. The feeling was most prominent when we would hang out with a family called the Touchards. They had a daughter my age named Ashleigh who was always full of laughter and seemed to put a smile on everyone's face just by being herself. Although she would tease and bully me, I knew she meant well and looked forward to seeing her every Christmas. As every Christmas trip ended, we would return home and the feeling would slowly fade.

As the cycle continues, I graduate high school and go to college. Covid then zaps away the majority of my freshman year and all of my sophomore year. During this time my family moved back south, to Bay St. Louis Mississippi. Sophomore year ends and I return home for the summer. On a hot summer day my parents tell me that they are having some friends over. I ask who and they tell me the Touchards. Waves of emotion pass through me at the sound of their name, and before realizing I blurt out “will Ashleigh be with them.” They tell me that she will be stopping by on her way home from college. I quickly shower, brush my teeth, and do a couple push-ups without realizing the feeling I’d felt since birth had returned. As I hear my parents greet them outside, I take a deep breath and walk towards the door. I open it up and see a girl, red faced and sweaty, lounging on a rocking chair. We locked eyes and after years of curiosity and desire it all made sense. She was the source of the feeling I had never been able to understand until now. And like they say the rest is history.