Mattie & Bryant in Buffalo

We met in 1986 at Kensington High School. I was a junior and he was a senior. It was love at first sight (for me). We had the same History class. When I seen him I knew he was the one for me. I use to sit next to him or behind him. He was always in my view. I got up the nerve one day and asked if he had a girlfriend. He said yes. Now why? He broke my heart...but deep down I knew he would be mine. So, I quietly admired him from a far. He graduated in June of 1986 and I went on to my senior year not to hear from him again.

After graduation, I went to college. A friend of mine and I were walking up the stairs in the Atrim about to grab something to eat. Low and behold, who did I see walking across our path...Yep, Bryant Stevenson. I had a smile so big that Ray Charles and Stevie Wonder could see it. I knew this would be my chance. We talked until it was time to go to our next class. This time he was single and we exchanged numbers. I could not wait until school was out for the day. I went home and called him. We ended up hooking up later in the week and from that moment on, he was all mine. We were like glue for about 2 1/2 -3 years. We broke up, got back together, broke up again and ended up going our separate ways.

Throughout the years we saw each other off and on, but nothing too serious. We thought about each other all the time. He ended up marrying and having children. I had a few unsuccessful relationships, but still I landed on my feet. In the summer of 2003, I was coming from Church going to my dad's and as I was getting out of the car I heard my name being called. I looked back and it was Bryant. He was coming from Church and dropping someone off at my dad's building. We only talked for a moment. When I got home, I looked in the phone book to get his number. I soon called him and we talked for a while (catching up) but I found out he was seeing someone. Oh well, I let that go and moved on again. In 2004 my dad passed away and I wanted to tell him, so I sent him a letter and a copy of the news clipping. He sent me a beautiful card and called me shortly after. We stayed in touch (not often though)I was seeing someone then.

So in August 2005, I was out of town. I was in my hotel room having a pity party (very small one). I was talking to God and out of no where my cell rang. I did not recognize the number so I did not answer the call. I waited until they left a message. I checked my voicemail and did not quite recognize the voice so I replayed the message. I started smiling because it sound like Bryant. I called the number back and we talked for about an hour. I used up his minutes except 5 or 10 minutes of them. When we hung up I said ok girl, it's time to get home to your husband. We've been together ever since. We knew we were not going to let each other go. Our love still remained strong after all those years.