Vanessa

Intro You first met Vanessa when you were 15 and she was 16. It was at a week long conference for families of those with Spina Bifida. Her youngest brother has the condition, as does your own sister. At the conference you ended up taking a stance that was opposite to that of most the other youth at the conference who were far less gracious and kind about their own siblings with Spina Bifida. This seemed to impress Vanessa and she would always remember you for it, because it demonstrated a lot of maturity, compassion, and character from someone as young as you and she was. Though you two did not interact often during the conferense she spoke of you with her parents with a great deal of praise. Unfortunately Vanessa lived in an entirely different state from you and well over 600 miles away. There was little opportunity for you to develop any type of lasting relationship. Though you did develop a significant crush on her, which as far as you knew she was oblivious to you. You refused to pursue anything deeper, reasoning that distance and timing were wrong. You reasoned that she was out of your league, and that you weren't ready for a relationship. The years would pass by and your path would cross with hers on an annual basis. Every year you would both attend an educational conference for those of your mutual religion at a University. It was enough that a familliarity did develop, born mostly out of mutual respect for one another. This would continue for 4 years until you stopped attending while pursing college and a church mission. A year after you last saw Vanessa she was in the Miss America Pagent, and then a year after that she got married. When you heard she got married your interest in her faded. The year is 2002, Vanessa is 23 and you are 22. It has been 4 years since you last saw each other.