Sparks Fly | ✓

0:59

"I'm sure you're proud of the woman you've become since then Shanae, as am I, if I'm truly being honest." Fatima smiled, placing her one leg over the other.

Shanae smiled, nodding her head in agreement. She was seated on a couch across Fatima, neatly tucked in the crook of her fiancé's arm.

"I won't lie, I'm so damn proud of myself. Even just hearing myself reflect on my journey, from the time I stepped foot in Chicago again, to now - almost a year later. It's crazy to think that a hurt, bitter, self-righteous Shane existed, and now, I'm becoming someone who God, my parents, my very quiet fiancé right here can be proud of," she slightly laughed, as did the people who shared the room with her, "and most importantly, someone I am proud of. It's been a journey, I won't even lie. A tough one, but a good journey nonetheless."

"Which is why it's so important to have moments of reflection, so you can see how far you have come - and what else you need to do to keep growing." Fatima jumped on, giving a solid reason for the exercise she had asked Shanae to do in their very last session.

"You know, most people think growth is linear, they think you grow once and then you're done - but life in its entirety is all about constantly becoming better, it's about progression and never perfection - because we only find perfection in Christ." She smiled, looking at both Shanae and Hendrichs who were following along.

"That's good." Hendrichs agreed. "For me, perfection has always been something I aspired to be - in the way that I carried myself, in the expectations I would have of other people around me. It's something I had to learn to unlearn," he chuckled, his eyes widening, "especially over the past few months courting my beautiful fiancée. I had a lot of things I had to let go of, in order to accommodate having someone so similar to me in my life. I had to learn to be okay with things not going my way, and that lesson really began for me when we had that intervention with my mom."

"Oh, I remember that one." Fatima grinned looking at Shanae who only but rolled her eyes at the mention of the situation. "A fan favorite session of mine, in case you didn't know Shanae, because it forced us to really break down every single word, every single emotion and every single action. Let's do a reflection on that."

"I know I was pretty upset when we left my mother in love's place," she smiled, and Hendrichs threw his head back in laughter.

"Upset is an understatement, but go ahead baby." A wide grin now sat on his face, as he sank deeper into the couch, preparing to hear Shanae's perspective for the thousandth's time."

"Okay, I was livid – because at that moment, I did not appreciate someone whom I had just met making those decisions for me. Even though in retrospect, I do appreciate her having that firmness with me, which I needed – but before reflecting, I just felt violated as I'd always felt throughout my whole life, you know."

"Which really, you were naturally going to feel." Fatima nodded in agreement.

"Hmm. That evening, after like two hours had gone by, she pulled me aside, and apologized again, which I appreciated – even though it did nothing to soothe my anger, and she asked for my number, surprisingly, so we could meet up during the week and talk, and get to know each other." Shanae explained, resting her hand on Hendrichs' lap.

"I remember you choosing to take her number instead." Fatima commented, watching Shanae's radiant face. She naturally wore a smile, her aura so beautifully light.

"Yes, I wanted to be in control of how our relationship would go after I was done being upset. I remember also telling Hendrichs to give me a week to get my head together, because in that moment, I felt like running away from the relationship. I felt like his expectations for me were a little too high."