she story My Love Story shared by Melia Flowers
Editor’s note: In order for this wonderful story to fully make sense, I ask that you indulge me and take a few minutes to read my editor’s letter on page 6 first.
On April 30th of last year, my best friend of 38 years committed suicide and I was devastated.
I had gone for weeks getting very little sleep at night and felt and looked like a walking zombie. Thankfully though, I was surrounded by wonderful Christian women who loved me and saw what I couldn’t... that I was in a very bad place. One in particular was my friend Gayle Polston, who had been dropping by my office a couple of times each week to pray for me, lay hands on me, and ask God to help me through the difficult task of coming to grips with my friend’s loss and the hole it had leſt in my heart and life. This had gone on for awhile when one of her visits yielded an additional request. On this day, with her hand on my shoulder, Gayle ended her prayer in an unusual way. “And God, I know Melia does not want a man in her life. But I am asking you, when the time is right, please send her a godly man. Send her one who will love her for who she is and will be there for her.” I remember thinking at the time, “God, you know I do not want a man; so, please do not send me one.” I started to express my feelings to Gayle but decided it didn’t matter. God knew I didn’t want a man and He would not send me that which I didn’t want, I concluded, and let it be. Fast forward, one week later. I ran into another dear friend, Janet Taylor, and was discussing that
Haley and I were trying to eat a lot of organic vegetables. She suggested I get our vegetables from Dan Shelley, an organic farmer. Why didn’t I think of that, I wondered. I had met Dan seven years before, when Janet introduced him to me at a craſtsman show in Pend-
leton, SC. We had been visiting Clemson with our sons, and Janet stopped by to say hello to him. I learned that as well as being an organic farmer, Dan also builds beautiful furniture out of willow. I remember like it was yesterday, the moment we met, because I was taken aback by the very evident presence of God within this man. Have you ever met someone that seemed to radiate with the spirit of the Father? Well, Dan had that aura. During our long ride home, Janet told me all about Dan and verified what I felt when I met him - that he loved the Lord - sharing that he was indeed a strong man of God. It just so happens that I was working on the June issue (which is our Annual Man issue) at that time and my publisher ears perked up, knowing that Dan would be perfect to include in our lineup of “interesting men.” I was happy when Dan later told me that he had been in several other publications throughout the years and though he did not like the attention, he always said yes so that he might “bring glory to God.” Later, as I sat at Dan’s kitchen table inside his beautiful log cabin built entirely by his own hands,
I was suddenly overwhelmed by the fact that this man was just like my Dada. It was amazing! Dan’s mannerisms, his thoughts on life, the way he lived, what he believed in...everything. Just like my daddy. I remember calling my Dada later to say, “I met this man today who could be your son!” He laughed saying, “You must be kidding. Surely there is not another scoundrel like me in the world.” More so than I could have known at the time, there was indeed. I absorbed every word Dan told me as he shared his life that day in his kitchen. There was so much
there, so much worthy of being shared. It made me regretful that I would have to cut it down to be contained within the page. Later, as I drove down the driveway on my way home, I saw his cabin in my rearview mirror and that interesting man waving goodbye. Somehow, I knew I had met a friend. Yet, I would not talk to or even run into Dan Shelly for another seven years, an amazing fact since we both live in the same town - he on his family farm about five miles outside of Marion and me being “ a city girl,” as Dan would say. Not once did we ever pass in the grocery store or glance at one another at a stoplight. Then, seven years almost to the very day, I decided to contact Dan, per my friend Janet’s sugges-
tion, to see about buying some spinach and other vegetables from his garden. I checked my com- puter’s address book and sure enough, his email was still there. I typed a quick email, reminding him who I was and asking what he had for sale. Shortly aſterwards, Dan replied saying of course he remembered me (Who else is named Melia?) and let me know that he sold his bounty at the local farmers market on Saturdays. That was it. Sort of. The next few days resulted in further conversation. I asked him about his mother (whom I remembered because our same friend, Janet, had written about her in a past She Mag issue). He, in turn, inquired about my children and confessed that he had heard about my divorce. At that point, Dan asked if I had started dating. I explained that I was not interested in dating AT ALL. He said he totally understood, explaining that he had, in fact, come to the same place in his own life.
118 February 2014 Was that ever the right reply from him! If he had pushed that topic, I would not have felt comfortable
talking to him. I was so glad that he got it right, because I really enjoyed our simple chit-chatting and didn’t want to have to end it. So we continued on, bouncing back and forth asking questions and shar- ing small talk. I really liked this man, especially the fact that he wasn’t interested in dating. Then, something unexpected happened - an email that would change everything. Opening with
“Pleasant words are like a honeycomb, sweetness to the soul and health to the bones.” Followed by, “Guess where this is from and you win a prize.” Awe, that’s sweet I thought, replying back, “I know it’s from Proverbs, but I’ll have to look it up.” Looking up the verse, I answered, “It is from Proverbs 16:24.” I awaited his response and assumed I would win some spinach or tomatoes as my reward for answering correctly. Then, it happened. The game changer. I opened the next email and read... “You are right. You win a cruise. A trip for two down the Little Pee Dee in my canoe!” Then it happened - the scream heard around the world - or at least throughout my block. What
happened to my sweet, harmless friend Dan? How did this happen? “No! No! No!” I screamed, slamming my laptop shut. I watched, unable to speak, as it slipped off my lap and slid across the floor. Haley asked, “What happened, Momma?” It took me what seemed like minutes to answer her. “I’m pretty sure Dan Shelly just asked me out on a date!” I explained in disbelief, all the while real- izing I was acting like a teenage drama queen. Yet, I could not stop myself. “Oh, for goodness sake! “ Haley yelled back at me, “Just go, Momma,” in a voice that sounded much like someone trying to talk a person off a ledge. Ironically, I felt like that person - the one on the ledge, afraid to jump but unable to step away
and back inside to safety. Up to that point, the exchange that Dan and I engaged in had felt safe and strangely enjoyable. While I didn’t want it to end, I also knew I wasn’t ready for a date. “It’s just a date for goodness sake. Just go!” My daughter pleaded with me, with an expression on her face that spoke volumes. My precious girl had been concerned for me for a long time, worried that I would be alone having not ever truly known love in the way she felt I should be loved. Bless my sweet girl. She didn’t deserve to have that burden on her young shoulders. Realizing I was acting like a crazy woman, I picked up my laptop (now sporting a broken case) and sat back down. “God, when the time is right, please send Melia a Godly man.” That was it! Gayle had prayed this man up, and Gayle was going to have to ask God to take him back! I explained just that to my friend aſter insisting that she meet me for lunch a few days later. Being a professional counselor, I’m certain she must have been discerning whether or not she needed to have me committed. Instead, she calmly asked me to tell her about this man, Dan, that she had “prayed up.” Aſter telling her everything I knew, Gayle responded with her words of wisdom: “So, he sounds like a perfectly nice man.” Then, the words I didn’t want to hear, words that echoed my daughter’s: “Go. It’s just a date. Just go.” “But I don’t want to!” I whined, adding, “I’m just not ready, it’s too soon.” “Melia, it’s been over three years. It’s not too soon. It’s time,” she said, holding my hand and looking into my eyes. At that moment, I felt like a little girl getting the “you’re a big girl now and it’s time for you go to school with the other big kids” speech - the one my mother gave me when I started first grade. The feelings in my heart and the butterflies in my stomach felt achingly similar to that same experience.
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