"First Date"
After a few failed attempts at internet dating, the most interesting
single mother emailed me. Ann lived kind of far away –another state even-
and she was nothing like what was searching for. What did a good looking
Sunday-school teacher want with a punk-rock soccer dad like me? Honestly,
I don’t even think she wanted to go out. After a week of exchanging
candidly honest emails, we both found ourselves without children on a
Saturday night and decided to meet for dinner.
I left my car in a nearby parking garage. As I walked up to the
restaurant, Ann called and I heard her voice for the very first time. She
was running late. Something about sun-glare causing traffic, but it made
no difference to me. We both knew that unlike most first dates, there was
absolutely no pressure and we could be ourselves. I don’t think either one
of us ever expected our relationship to go anywhere, since we lived so far
away from each other and were truly opposites.
The night was perfect. The air was cool for a summer night, and not too
humid despite some scattered light showers. That’s until the showers
turned into monsoons. The other customers of the restaurant got angry
because their food was getting soggy; we just laughed hysterically. We
were relocated inside just as our entrees arrived. We became so distracted
by our conversation that neither one of us touched our food for about an
hour.
After dinner we decided to get some drinks, and left my car in the
safety of the garage. We hopped into her station wagon and headed to a
bar. The music was too loud. The place was too crowded. The drinks weren’t
that good. The bartender was rude. But when Ann kissed me it was amazing.
She’ll admit to me now that the first kiss wasn’t so good. I am glad she
gave it another try before giving up.
We stayed until the bar closed, and neither one of us wanted the night
to end. She drove me to the garage where my car was safely waiting. We sat
for a while and talked. It took us a long time to say goodbye, so long in
fact that some people knocked on the car window asking for our parking
space. All of a sudden, we realized that the parking garage had locked its
gates right under our noses. I was stranded until morning when the garage
re-opened. We would just have to keep the date going until then. It was
the longest first date ever, and it changed my life.
On September 27, 2005 we were secretly married on a beach in Cancun,
just four months after we met.
"Touched by an Angel"
The first moment that came into my mind when I read your
idea paragraph was the moment my oldest daughter was born. After 45
hours of labor, she entered the world, not by crying, but with eyes wide
open, absorbing everything. They wrapped her in a blanket and handed
her to me, and I'll never forget, she reached out and very gently touched
my face. Lacey is now 21, still absorbs the world (student traveler,
speaks 4 languages, loves people and culture) and now instead of touching
my face, she touches my heart.
"The Silent Love Song"
Following a long period of darkness, it
was a beautiful, sunny Friday afternoon, and our gazes met across the
field. As usual, we both remained in silence, for we both were certain
that the other would never be interested in us. This time, however, it
was different... We happened to muster the courage to cast a furtive
glance and a whimsical smile, but our paths diverged as quickly as they
had crossed… Or had they?
Her Story: All of my life, I
searched for “The One”. I spent a lot of time creating “him” in my mind:
he must: have a passion for Christ; have a passion for life; have a love
for recreating history; and also, he must be caring, kind, considerate,
respectful, humble… You know… the perfect “1st Corinthians 13 guy.”
However… creating this man in my mind and finding him in real life were
two completely different matters, until that fateful day in May… I saw
him from across the field. He intrigued me, but I figured he was simply
too good to be true. We were at the same reenactment, and I watched him
all weekend, but was sure that there was no way that I would ever have a
chance, so I let any opportunity to speak with him pass without taking
it. I couldn’t stop thinking about him though, and when I returned home,
I made up my mind that I would find him. Through a mutual friend, I
discovered his name, and somehow mustered the courage to send an innocent
“Hello.”
His Story: I had never thought
that my “dream woman” would ever come to me. I was certain I would have
to compromise if I was to marry. My history was less than splendid with
women, and I had little hope left. I had noticed her before, but never in
a million years thought that she would be interested in me of all men.
She seemed so elegant and graceful, as she played viola at reenactments,
and there was no chance she would ever have feelings for me. She was one
of those women that you think about all day and wish you could say “I love
you” to, but knew that the chances of that happening were slim. I also
thought that there was no chance she was a Proverbs 31:10-31 type of
woman, or even a Christian for that matter. Someone of such talent
usually tends to be self-sufficient. One day, I received a message from
her, proving it all wrong…
The Rest of the
Story: What began with an innocent “Hello,” has grown into something
beyond our wildest dreams. As we correspond, we have found out how much
we really do have in common, and a bond has formed. The more we talk, the
stronger the bond becomes, and, despite the miles between us, we know, as
one knows that Sunlight will banish the darkness, that we have found our
soul mate, our Anam Cara.
"Mine"
I met my soul mate and best friend while we were both going through very
difficult times. We were stationed in England with the US Air Force and
both facing divorce and single parenting. My Richard was a ham radio
operator and friends with my soon to be ex-husband. He had two girls and
his soon to be ex-wife had left him and the girls and returned to the
states with her new boyfriend. When my husband moved out on me and my two
children we started sharing things. He had a tv and we did not, but we had
a washer/dryer. We started sharing cab fare to go to the grocery store and
then, since we had the same childcare provider we started sharing pick up
duty. Whomever arrived first picked up all the kids so it wouldn't cost so
much. Since I was a mere airman and my husband had moved out of the house,
I no longer qualified to live in base housing and was facing a move and
higher expenses living "on the economy". I also did not have a vehicle.
That presented a huge problem for me. Rich suggested that we move in with
him and the girls. By Air Force standards that would be considered illegal
cohabitation so he suggested, "Then marry me and make it legal!" Wow, how
romantic! From then on everything seemed to fall into place. The judge at
the divorce proceedings expedited everything for us and waived the usual
waiting period so the divorces could be finalized thus paving the way for
our marriage. When we were moving in everything just seemed to click. Even
the oddest things....we both had the very same set of dishes. We both had
a set of those Pyrex colored bowls and he had broken some and I only had
left the ones that he had broken. Together we had a full set! You see, it
was meant to be. Our love has grown and this year we will be celebrating
our 25th Wedding Anniversary. We are truly soulmates. Sometimes we
don't even need to say anything to each other but we are both thinking the
same exact thing! We have been blessed!
Notable Mention: "Love's
Sweet Song"
Way back in the late sixties when I was just twelve years old, my mother
decided to take me to a band rehearsal. Let me explain. A brand new local
concert band had just been formed. It ran parallel to the school year with
summers off. My mother and uncle, both clarinetist, joined up. My mother soon
took the position of executive secretary. She then enrolled me to study the
clarinet with the director of the band, a retired teacher. My lessons progressed
at a good rate and the director told my mother that I could start band in the
fall. It was spring and the band would soon be hosting it's Annual Concert and
then go into summer break. My mother thought it would be a good experience for
me to sit next to her at a rehearsal so that I could read the music along with
her and hear what a band sounded like when you were a participant, not a person
in the audience. My mother, my uncle and I all went one Wednesday evening. My
mother sat me down right next to her, as that the director thought this would be
beneficial experience. I started out by paying attention, but was soon much more
intent on the boy playing saxophone. He sat down the row from my mother and I
had a clear view of him. I don't know why I was so taken, but I kept on staring
at him and found myself wondering what kind of a husband he would make. All of a
sudden, I got an elbow and my mother saying, "Pay attention to the music! I
didn't bring you here to oogle at boys!" Well, I did pay attention and I did
join the band that September. I found out that the boy was XXXX, that he
attended with his Dad and younger brother and that he was fifteen years old. We
got to be friends as all the young people hung out together at break-time. I
remember when the director had Bob play clarinet for a season, just for the
experience. Of course, to my delight, he sat next to me. I remember reaching
over and touching him as we talked in between songs and that he came with his
Dad and his friend to an executive meeting at our house. The three of us young
people played cards and then went to McDonald's for for a soda and hot apple
pie. It was wonderful. Then he dropped out of band. He was not from my town, but
I did see him at our High School football games and honor chorus concerts. We
always waved to each other, but it wasn't the same as seeing him and talking to
him every Wednesday evening. When I was eighteen and starting the new band
season, I had the great joy of seeing Bob and his Dad and younger brother walk
into rehearsal and join the band again. I was dating someone else at the time,
but knew that if Bob asked me out, I would go in a heartbeat. And he did! He
asked me if I wanted to go out and paint the town green (his favorite color)?
But Saturday came and went with no phone call. When I saw him at rehearsal, he
apologized for not calling and promised me he would call twice on the following
Saturday. Well, I sat by that phone all day, I knew he would call, that we were
meant to be. And just about 4:00 in the afternoon, he called and asked if I
would like to go to the movies. When I answered "yes!", he told me he would find
the movie schedule in the local paper and call back. He called just a few
minutes later and said, "Now, I've called you twice just as I promised at
rehearsal." And that was the beginning of a beautiful relationship. Not long
ago, I was talking to a friend about his new relationship. He swore up and down
that it was love, but only talked about the physical. I told him, "nope, nope,
nope, your talking about sex, not love." He asked me to tell him how I knew that
I was in love. I told him, "From the very first time that I saw Bob when I was
young girl, I knew that we were meant to be. That we had already been together
and regardless of the physical aspect of our relationship, we would be together
again, somewhere in the future as we are now, maybe not in the next lifetime,
but we would most assuredly be together. We would find each other again. And
that's love!" My husband and I are looking towards our thirtieth wedding
anniversary and "yes", we are still members of the Greater Shore Concert Band
today. Thank you for this opportunity to share our love story with other lovers
and those who will become lovers.
60 Day No-Hassle