1st Place:  "Chamois Man"

I knew my husband and I were destined to be together the second time I saw him. We had been together for a total of about 30 minutes. The first time I saw him, I was in a relationship that had been awful for the last 5 years (since the day it started). He came every Tuesday to the bank where I had just started working. He washed cars for employees. I had a junk car and barely made enough money to buy groceries, so I ignored the regular Tuesday shout for a car wash (I didn’t know yet that it was regular). Later I waited outside for my ride when I noticed a guy sitting near a BMW, drying it with a chamois. My ride (the 5 year mistake) was late and I ended up having a 15-minute conversation with “chamois man.” I felt myself relax as I spoke to this man who was not only attractive (tall, dark skin and light hazel eyes), but also intelligent and well read. Being a book lover, this was extremely attractive to me. Finally my ride showed up. I jumped in the car without saying goodbye. Mr. Mistake started in on me immediately and we had our last fight. That night I packed and left him.

The following Tuesday I lingered near the door (which was a secured door) so that I would be able to answer it when “Chamois Man” showed up. I had $12; I was going to get my Geo Metro washed. Before he showed up, I heard my coworkers talking about tipping him; I panicked and fled back to my desk. After he had come and gone (I thought), I went down to eat my lunch on the picnic table, and there he was. We talked again for a few minutes and I told him I had left You-Know-Who. He gave me his card with his cell phone number and told me to call him, that maybe we could have coffee. It was at this moment that I knew he was “the one.” The problem is that I was so excited about him that I gave his card to someone who needed a car wash. I was so embarrassed that I ignored the car wash call for the next 3 weeks.

I finally got up the courage to tell him I had given his number away and I gave him mine. It was 2 more weeks before he called me. He called at 11am on a Monday (he knew I worked at a bank and I wouldn’t be home!!). I greeted him at the door the next day with the loser gesture on my forehead. He agreed. We went on our first date the next night. We were married four months later. Our rings were Silver (because we were broke) “Anam Cara” poesy rings that I purchased online at Sapphire Lane. Our one-year anniversary will be on June 25th this year. He is my true Soul Friend.

The Guardians: 

This is my guardians' love story. They met when they were merely toddlers looking at a map of Hot Springs trying to find Arkansas, where they lived at the time. My dad (I call them mom and dad because they raised me.) asked my mom to marry him when he was three years old and she was four. She said yes, only when they were old enough. My dad's family then moved to Oklahoma to keep up with his father's job. My mom wrote letters to him on almost a daily basis in secret because her parents did not approve of the relationship. But she continued to write. Little did she know, my dad's father was destroying her letters before my dad could see them. My dad was heartbroken at the loss of contact from his love. He thought that the relationship may have grown cold and gave up hope.

My mom persevered though she received no contact with my dad and saw no evidence of his continuing love for her. All she knew was that she was still deeply in love with him. Finally, my mom gave up hope. But that just happened to be the year my dad would move back to Arkansas and they would meet again. My dad saw my mom walking her younger brothers and sisters to school and asked her if the old flame still burned. With tears in her eyes my mom replied with a heartfelt "yes". They were together again, but this was far from the last of their battles. To say that my parent's families didn't get along would be like calling an atomic explosion the small pop of water dynamite fireworks. Gunshots were exchanged on a regular basis and curses and vulgarities enough to make a sailor's ears burn flew every time one member saw another. When my dad came to ask my grandpa for my mom's hand in marriage, my grandpa nearly killed him. Literally. But my dad would not be deterred from his true love. When my mom heard the situation, she was given a choice; she could stay at her home without my dad and keep her family whom she loved, or she could marry my dad, have her true love, and never be welcomed into her home again. She chose my dad. There have been countless battles, struggles, conflicts, injuries, and other obstacles. Not to mention overcoming constant attacks from both sides of the now-joined family.

But through it all, my parents have remained constantly and fervently in love. They recently renewed their vows, but this too was a battle-ridden task. I want to surprise the two people I've always known were as forever as eternity itself. I'm confident that their love will last thousands of years after time itself has ceased. If I am never able to be the daughter that they deserve, I want to let them know that they mean everything to me and that there is no other way to describe them or their relationship other than "soul mates". After all, how could they have overcome time and distance themselves, with every known demon in between them, if they weren't bound at the soul?    They are Anam Cara.

Best Friends: 

I met a young man (15 years old) one morning, my first day at a new school. Didn't think much of him at first, but he kept showing up here and there. He just seemed to be at every party, every class etc etc. Long story short, we became BEST friends, completely inseparable. Our parents used to ask, what could we possibly have to talk about on the phone for hours and hours every night?! We spent all day every day together, then for hours at night we would talk on the phone. Even funnier, we lived 1 block away from each other. Well as children do, we were growing and changing. He started dating, and so did I. We always kept out partners kind of "hidden" from one another, we didn't know why at the time, we just did. We used to joke because people would NEVER believe that we were not a couple, even our close friends thought we were together but not telling anyone. We were mistaken for boyfriend and girlfriend all of the time, so we used to joke that we would get together when we were 90, we would end up in the same retirement home and finally figure out what everyone else was seeing.

Well, 14 years came and went, we sought each other out exactly when the other needed us to. We both got married, he had 2 children. His wife hated me, my husband hated him. They said we were just "unnaturally close" or just "too comfortable with each other". I moved out of state for 2 years, the day I came back I met with Ryan. We met at a park in Simi Valley CA. We planned on just meeting for lunch. Lunch turned into a 6 hour visit. We laid under that tree for 6 hours and talked, held hands, laughed and just became us. Something was different that day though. I didn't want to leave, and neither did he, it turned out. We found every excuse to stay just a few more minutes. We finally said our VERY long good byes. I drove home beaming, again I didn't know why at the time. Ryan went back to that tree and carved our initials in it. RS + LP. He didn't know why he did it, he just did. That night he called and asked if he could come over and visit, I gladly said of course. We sat up all night talking and laughing. This went on for months. (I need to add here that his wife had moved out of his house some 11 months earlier and my marriage was tumultuous at best) So, months go by and it finally dawns on us...this is what everybody has been talking about for the last 14 years. This comfort, this peace we feel when we are together, this chemistry. We were so afraid to risk our friendship we treaded VERY carefully at first, discussing every little thing so that there were no misunderstandings. It is funny to look back now. I sometimes get sad thinking of all of the years that were were not together, because only now do I know what I was missing. We have been together for almost 2 years now. The best 2 years of my life. We wake up every day and thank god for each other. He is the last person I see at night and the first I see in the morning, and I want it that way forever. I never thought I would find a love this true, this unconditional, this strong, but I have.

So the anam cara comes in here, we used to talk about getting matching tattoos, it started when we were in high school, but we need something that meant "soul friend" because we felt that we were should mates, without the "mate" part. Well, we never got around to looking it up, or didn't have the resources. Then about a year ago we started looking at promise rings as a way to show our devotion to one another. There it was in black and white, our entire 15 year relationship in one little phrase. mo anam cara.

Thelma and Louise:

500 Words is not enough to describe my “Anam Cara”, Shelly. Shelly and I met many years ago, but did not become close until our lives came together in a rather unexpected way, our husbands were involved with the same woman. To be honest, we suspected each others’ husband was involved with this woman, and couldn’t bring ourselves to tell the other, but it never occurred to us that we were both actors in the same play. In the end, the woman ended up with my husband and both of our marriages ended. Since then, Shelly and I have discovered a love for each other that surpass any romantic relationship we have ever had, and we’ve even been told that we’ve been by each others’ side for the past 300 years, in one form or the other. It doesn’t surprise me at all. Rarely a day goes by that we don’t speak by telephone or email. When my mother in the hospital last August, Shelly drove to Houston, to be with her hours before she died, although they had never met, then drove back to Fort Worth to get my godson, Landon, and came back in time for the memorial service. She even attended the interment in San Antonio, via cell phone. Two weeks later, I drove to Fort Worth to be with her around the clock after Landon was hit by a car. It was Shelly and I who took Landon to the beach for the first time after he could walk again. We have laughed together, cried together, been silly together, and were the glue that held the other together. We get frustrated because Hallmark and other card companies want to call us “friends”, but we’re so much more than that. Very rarely in life do you have the opportunity to share your life with someone who knows you better than you do and loves you in spite of it. People tend to romanticize the term “Soul Mate” and want to make it only applicable to married people or people involved romantically. Their narrow perspective only makes them vulnerable to missing out on the relationship of a lifetime. Shelly and I know that the men in our lives will come and go (well, except for Landon, he doesn’t have a choice), but what we have will live forever. We have already made plans for our golden years and all of the ways we will have to take care of the other when we’re too old or feeble to do it ourselves anymore …but until then, we’re going to look forward to all the things we’ve yet to celebrate … Landon’s first date, Landon’s first car (God, help us!), our first vacation together (can you say, “Thelma and Louise”), grandchildren, and who knows what else … All I can say is, I can’t think of anyone else I’d rather share this journey called life with … well, other than Brad Pitt ….

My Sunrise and my Sunset:

I met a girl ten years my junior. We became close friends, always together. Eventually, I started having feelings for her. I was so afraid of telling her, so I just kept it all inside. I saw her through horrible relationships, the whole time thinking of how much better I would treat her. I would never be unfaithful, I would NEVER hit her, I would hold her when she cried. I loved her so much but was too afraid to take that leap. Finally, one night, three days after Christmas, she confided in my sister that she thought she had feelings for me. Of course my sister lets me in on this. AT LAST!!! This was my chance. I took her aside and told her everything. We have been together ever since, almost four years now. For the first time in my life, I want kids, I want a family to come home to. Her love has unlocked doors in my soul. I just stumbled through the first 34 years of my life but now I feel alive. She is my sunrise and my sunset. I will love her for all eternity!!

A letter from the webmaster:

SapphireLane would like to thank all the good people who've submitted entries for our contest.  We hope you enjoyed participating!   ~ God Bless