How I Met My Significant Other: How the Magic Got Started 🪄❤️

How did you meet your significant other?

By Jared Harding Wilson

I know this prompt was from a couple of days ago, but I really wanted to answer this question: How did I meet my significant other?

The funny thing is, the story of how I met my wife actually begins years before I ever met her.

It took me years to become ready to meet her.

For years, I prayed for her. I prayed that she would be safe. I prayed that she would have good days. And I prayed that somehow, someday, we would meet at the right time.

I just didn’t know who I was praying for yet.

There is another part of this story that is difficult to put into words. I had been married before. She is an amazing person, and losing that marriage was deeply painful. Starting over after something like that isn’t easy. And honestly, starting over is even harder when you don’t particularly like the person you have become. For a long time, I wondered how I could ever begin again. How do you rebuild your life? How do you learn to trust again? How do you believe you are worthy of being loved when you don’t even know if you love yourself? But somewhere in that darkness, I had a spiritual experience that gave me something I desperately needed: hope. It didn’t erase the past, and it didn’t suddenly make everything easy. But it gave me the courage to believe that my story wasn’t over. Maybe I could become better. Maybe I could heal. Maybe there could be another chapter. And perhaps most importantly, maybe God wasn’t finished with me yet. That hope became the beginning of my second chance.

That second chance didn’t happen overnight. It took years of therapy, difficult conversations, friendships, dating, mistakes, and a lot of looking honestly at myself…

Before I met her, I had a lot of work to do on myself. There were things I needed to learn, things I needed to heal from, and things about myself that I needed to understand. Every therapy appointment became part of that journey. Therapy wasn’t a quick fix. It took years and years, but little by little, I was becoming a better version of myself.

Along the way, I also met and dated some amazing women. Not every relationship was meant to last, but that doesn’t mean those people weren’t important parts of my story. Each relationship taught me something. I learned more about myself, about relationships, about what I wanted in a marriage, and perhaps just as importantly, about the kind of person I needed to become if I wanted to be a good husband.

I also had some difficult conversations with Church leaders who cared enough about me to tell me things that could help. Those conversations weren’t always easy, but they helped me grow.

And then there were my best friends.

They were there through the good decisions, the bad decisions, the victories, the disappointments, and all the moments in between. They challenged me, encouraged me, laughed with me, and helped me become a better person.

I had also been away from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints for years. For me, it took years to find my way back.

When I finally did, it felt like coming home. 🏡

Being a little older, I started attending a mid-singles ward, and I made some incredible friendships there. I loved being around people who were in a similar stage of life, and I went to just about every fun activity I could.

One night, I decided to bring everyone together for something a little different.

A Harry Potter movie marathon. 🎥🪄

I hosted the event at my place, and everyone was encouraged to come dressed as their favorite character from the books or movies.

Naturally, I dressed up as Harry Potter.

Honestly, it was pretty easy for me. I’m a white guy with brown hair and green eyes, so I basically just needed my wire-framed glasses, a lightning-bolt scar, a Hogwarts cloak, and a Gryffindor tie.

Harry Potter, reporting for duty. 🧙‍♂️

I wanted everyone to have a chance to talk and get to know each other instead of simply sitting silently through eight Harry Potter movies, so we planned fun intermissions between the films. It took a few weeks to make it through all the movies, which was part of the adventure!

For the first movie, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone, I had even made homemade sugar cookie dough in different colors, along with lots of different sprinkles, so everyone could make Harry Potter-themed cookies during the intermission.

The apartment was just beginning to fill up.

Friends were arriving, everyone was dressed up, and we were getting ready to start the movie when one of my best friends, Tim, called me.

He told me he had a friend from his high school days who was a huge Harry Potter fan and might be interested in joining us.

There was just one problem.

She was all the way up in Park City at a work event at the beautiful Stein Eriksen Lodge.

Tim happened to be there catching up with her. They had never dated; they were simply friends. But Tim knew me, knew her, and apparently thought we might make a pretty good match.

So he decided to play matchmaker.

He told me about his friend and told her about the Harry Potter marathon. He tried to convince her to come with him.

She wasn’t exactly sold on the idea.

Then Tim handed her the phone.

She heard my voice.

And apparently, she liked what she heard.

She liked the sound of my voice.

So she decided to come.

They drove down from Park City and arrived just in time for the beginning of the movie.

I opened the door.

And there she was.

I was standing there dressed as Harry Potter, and I saw this beautiful, cute woman standing on the other side of the door.

And honestly?

Looking back, I think I was already smitten.

Of course, I didn’t know where the evening would lead. I didn’t know that she would eventually become my wife.

But there was something about her.

And as we started talking, I discovered even more.

When we started the movie, she quoted parts of the film.

Later, I learned that she is a cinematographer and video editor. She loves story. She understands how stories are told and how they make us feel.

She’s also an artist.

And I was especially impressed by the perfectly made Golden Snitch sugar cookie she created. ✨🍪

I was fascinated by her.

By the end of the movie, I knew I wanted to get to know her better.

So I asked for her phone number.

Later, over a phone call, I asked her on a date.

Four days later, on September 19, 2019, we went on our first date.

And the rest, as they say, is history.

We dated for quite a while before getting engaged and eventually getting married. We were older, and given my difficult past and everything we had both experienced in life, we weren’t in any rush.

We wanted to do it right.

There are many more stories between that first Harry Potter night and the day we got married. But those are stories for another time.

When I look back now, though, I can’t help but think about all those years before I met her.

The prayers.

The therapy.

The mistakes.

The difficult conversations.

The friendships.

The relationships that taught me.

The years I spent away from the Church and the journey that eventually brought me home.

All of those things were shaping me.

And somewhere out there, I believe, she was living her own story too.

I had prayed for her for years without knowing her name.

I prayed that she would be safe.

I prayed that she would have good days.

And I prayed that we would meet at the right time.

Then one night, while I was dressed as Harry Potter, one of my best friends called me from Park City and said he knew someone who might want to come to a Harry Potter movie marathon.

She almost didn’t come.

But then she heard my voice.

And she liked what she heard.

She came.

I opened the door.

And there she was.

Maybe it was coincidence.

Maybe it was timing.

Maybe it was friendship.

Maybe it was a little bit of all three.

But I believe God had a hand in it.

And somehow, after all those years of becoming ready, our paths finally crossed.

Four days later, we went on our first date.

And eventually, that cute woman who walked through my door for a Harry Potter marathon became my wife.

So, how did I meet my significant other?

Harry Potter. A little matchmaking from a best friend. A phone call. A voice she liked. A Golden Snitch cookie. A first date on September 19, 2019. Years of preparation. And, I believe, a little divine timing.

That’s how I met her.

That’s how the magic got started. 🪄❤️