You Never Know What You Might Win

Saturday evening, I officiated Bari and Justin’s wedding ceremony at the Stonebriar Country Club in Frisco, Texas. Here are the remarks I shared with them and their guests:

Even if you didn’t know Justin that well, all you need to do is listen to one statement he made about Bari, and you would know that he very wise: “I think I can safely say that she really is my other [half] even when I hate that’s she’s right and I’m wrong.” Notice that he didn’t say if, just when. They don’t just let anyone into West Point, after all, only the smart ones. 

One could say that Bari and Justin meeting each other was not just one stroke of luck but a few strokes of luck. First, Bari says: “Justin and I met May 5, 2018. An unusual set of events occurred for us to meet. At the last second my friend Leah and I decided we were going to go to Austin to pack up some of her apartment to move her back to Dallas. The weird part was it was Cinco de Mayo weekend which is my dad’s birthday, and I would never normally go out of town for his birthday if I was home.” So, this story, by all rights, should have stopped before it even started.

Then Bari says: “When we got to Austin, we decided to go the bars and the very first bar we went to, Leah got her phone stolen. Instead of just going back to her apartment after we realized what happened, she said there’s nothing we can do about it now, so let’s just enjoy ourselves and stay out. The next bar we went to, The Ranch, is where I met Justin for the first time.” So, again, this story could very well have ended there.

Now, lest you think that at this point they were home free, not so fast. Justin says, “We made eye contact in the bar and instantly had an attraction. At the time I thought she was talking with another guy.” Bari confirms: “Justin initially came up to me and introduced himself, but then walked away because he thought I was already talking to someone else.” So, again, all of us might not have made it to where we are this evening.

Bari says, “After he walked away, I looked at Leah and said we need to follow him. We would casually dance next to where he was until he decided to make a move again.” Make that move he did, ladies and gentlemen, and here we are. 

Now, some people might learn from this, that somehow everything is meant to be. My sense of Bari and Justin is that are way too rational for that. The more meaningful lesson here is that the world presents us with many lucky opportunities. Often, we fail to even notice these, and even if we do notice them, we fail to act upon them. 

The lesson here is that perhaps we should. So, take that trip to Austin, forget that stolen phone, and get back on the dance floor. You never know what you might win in the process. It worked out for Bari and Justin, didn’t it?