You Are So Beautiful To Me–Sean and Kimberly

These beautiful words that my soon to be son-in law Sean Goode wrote, to the accompanying music “You Are So Beautiful To Me”.

God set us up In the eyes of Sean Once upon a time in a land far far away (from New Jersey that is), God set us up! Sean’s roommate had volunteered his house to host a young adult Bible study. On that night as he came down the stairs he saw Mr. Brown’s Princess in her green sweater sitting at the kitchen table. With the Bible study going on he decided to stay in, thinking it would be an excellent opportunity to grow in his faith and meet a beautiful Christian Princess. At the end of the night, he was talking to a friend of his and asking about the Princess in the green sweater. Sean’s friend said, “She’s a player,” and with that he decided to leave her alone (this comment had absolutely no truth to it by the way). With that comment planted in the back of his mind they both attended these Bible studies together for the next year but didn’t talk with each other more than a couple times —that was until Mr. Brown’s Princess showed up at one of his events about a year later…  Seattle’s Umojafest was the event that offered the opportunity for the pair’s first true conversation. Cupid’s arrow didn’t hit. The rays from heaven didn’t part the sky and illuminate their space as it works in the movies. Their conversation was simple, uncommon, piercing, and platonic all at the same time. It was the type of conversation Sean had grown accustomed to in ministry where the person he was speaking with would bear their hearts as he would try to offer them Godly counsel. They followed the alluring conversation with dinner, at which point Sean was even more convinced that Mr. Brown’s Princess wasn’t the one because of her desire to move back to her castle in Montclair and Sean’s love for Seattle. But they did see each other again and on that day, the first real date, the Princess became too special to let go.  The date in itself wasn’t terrifically creative but the time they shared with one another was unique and created a wonderful experience. Together they enjoyed Dance Dance Revolution at a local arcade, went to Cheesecake Factory, and then finished at this small park by Lake Union where they spent more time talking and getting to know one another. And as the story goes, she had him at Dance Dance Revolution. It was dancing in the window, visible to all those using the busy Seattle street that Sean knew he had found someone he could truly be himself around, and she the same.  Every week since, Sean has given the Princess a gift and together have celebrated their love for each other. With her family and friends so far away Sean has often involved them in these gifts. Whether that meant having them call the Princess and read her lines of a poem that Sean wrote or having them send her pictures so that she could share in their life; but whatever it was, every week has been a celebration.  To propose, Sean decided to recreate the very first date but unfortunately her Father, the King of 180 Union St, tipped her off. Sean had sent the King an email to ask him when would be a good time to have the “talk” and the King forwarded that email to his Princess to ask her what it was about (knowing good and well “the talk” referred to a request for her hand in marriage). So Sean went to her job, told her about the conversation with the King and gave her some violet pearls to commemorate the moment since “he couldn’t give her the ring right now”. He had to throw her off. Together they retraced the steps they had taken 2 years ago. Sean had asked the Princess to marry him probably a hundred times throughout their relationship and each time she had said yes but none of them had been accompanied by a ring. So as they sat down on the park bench at the end of their date, he asked her to marry him as he had done so many times in the past. She said yes, routinely as she had done so many times before. He asked her again but this time he showed her the ring. The Princess began to laugh. That’s what she does–never cries–just laughs. You always know when you’ve touched her heart because of the way she laughs. Sean loves the Princess Kimberly Brown and he is honored that she chose him as he chose her and because of this choice he will be able to live happily ever after enjoying the sound of her laughter.