Right person, wrong time

Sounds like a cliche, right? The idea of ‘right person, wrong time’.

The media tends to make us believe that falling in love happens in the blink of an eye and that it is nothing but perfect. We all know that is not true. Love is a hard thing to find, and anything that’s worth having is always worth waiting for.

The tricky thing about soulmates is that you can find your person, but your personal lives may not align at that very moment. People tend to think that if it’s meant to be, it’ll be easy and you can force each other’s lives to work around one another. This isn’t always the case. Sometimes when you find your person, you may not be ready for each other yet. We must focus on ourselves first, our career, our health, before trying to accommodate everything to one person. This is a story about how two people learned that lesson the hard way, but ultimately in the end, resulted in a happy marriage after a brief period of separation. A thing many of us like to call, ‘right person, wrong time’.

Jingning was new to American dating apps, after days of scrolling through messages that all sounded the same, she found she was not interested in responding to any. Until she received a message saying, “Hello friend.” from someone by the name of Sam. Sam and Jingning instantly hit it off and planned their first date. Their first date consisted of dinner, drinks, and hockey. By the end of it, they still were not sure where it was headed.

Fast forward to their third date, Jingning met Sam’s parents which was the same day Jingning came to the realization she had strong feelings for Sam and thought to herself, “One day if he ever leaves me, it will be heartbreaking.” Their feelings for each other continued to grow and they made it official. This was short-lived when Sam started to detach himself from the relationship. Jingning said he grew distant and she felt as if he was losing interest.

Sam admitted he had never been in a serious relationship, was not a people person, and comfort was not first nature for him. Also, he had recently started a new career and was working a lot which did not leave much time for a relationship. Eventually, Jingning decided to end the relationship as she realized Sam could not give her what she needed. She was heartbroken and immediately got back on the dating app to find herself a rebound. Unfortunately, for Jingning, her rebound did not serve the purpose she thought it would.

Jingning eventually went back home after Christmas, where she was greeted with a card by an unknown address. Once she started reading, she immediately recognized the awful handwriting and knew it was from Sam. Sam had filled a card front to back expressing his true feelings and insisting they see each other. After a whole year of not being in contact, Jingning decided not to respond right away. She would be moving in four months and was not sure how they would pursue each other again, but Sam was persistent in his request.

Jingning finally agreed to meet up with Sam, they ended up at a hockey game, reminiscing the memories from their first date. He claimed he was ready to finally give his all, no matter what. So, when Jingning told him she was moving to Pittsburgh, he did not hesitate in letting her know he would be more than happy to go with her. Sam had lived in Tennessee his whole life but was willing to make a change if it meant being with the woman he loved. Sam made a big sacrifice for her which really showed his commitment to her. The two of them got married shortly after moving as things were finally just as they were meant to be.

Sam and Jingning’s story shows us that the right person, may not always come at the right time. Sam and Jingning had to work on themselves individually before they could be what each other needed. Sometimes being apart, shows just how much you enjoy that person being around. ‘Right person, wrong time’ in Sam and Jingning’s story allows us to believe what is meant to be will always find its way back.

Loved Samuel & Jingning’s story? Listen to the stories of real-life couples overcoming insurmountable odds in their pursuit of love only on Love Without Borders. It’ll make you want to fall in love again.

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