It was early Summer of 1988, and I had a roommate. The one I wrote about in an earlier post. I was so broke, I needed her to help pay the rent. Anyway, I was friends with a girl named Sheila. She invited me to a party at her house; it was a kind of birthday party for her husband Paul, and everyone else who was born in the summer.
It sounded like fun, so I went, and took my 11 year old daughter with me. We did almost everything together. We had a really good time at this party! There was a band, and everything. Lots of great food, and they had a pool, and a hot tub. There were lots of people there. Sara didn't even mind that there weren't many kids there.
During the course of the afternoon, I had been noticing this really good looking young man. He seemed to be wherever I was. When I went in the hot tub, in my very revealing bathing suit, it wasn't long until I saw that he was nearby. When Sara and I went inside to get some food, there he was, shortly after us. When we sat to listen to the band, darned if I didn't spot him nearby.
As it got dark, I needed to get my daughter home, so we left the party. A few days later, I got a call from Sheila. She told me that a guy at the party, named Mike, wanted to meet me, so we set up a double date. We were going to go out to a comedy show and dinner with Paul and Sheila, and see how it went.
That week dragged! Finally, it was Saturday. Mike came to my apartment to pick me up. He was really cute! He had dark curly hair, and big blue eyes. And he wasn't skinny! He had been a football player in high school, and still had the build. Yum.
We went to the comedy club, and went to dinner. I don't even remember what we ate that night. But in a parking lot just down from the restaurant, was one of those traveling carnivals. After dinner, we said goodnight to Paul and Sheila, and Mike and I went to the carnival. We walked through the whole thing once, then went back to the car. He was so thoughtful, he actually had a bottle of Champagne chilling in the trunk of the car! He brought it out and opened it. Unfortunately, he had forgotten glasses. So we drank it out of the bottle.
We spent hours there, sitting on the hood of the car, in that parking lot, just talking. It was the most amazing first date I had ever had. At one point we realized that the carnival had shut down for the night. We hadn't even noticed. I knew that this man was someone very special. I think I finally got home around 3 or 4 a.m.
The next day, he came to my door, with a dozen roses. We spent the next 4 months together every day. He even slept at my apartment most of the time, much to my roommates chagrin. Then my brothers wedding rolled around. He agreed to take me, though it made him nervous. He got to meet my tiny Italian Grandmother, and all the rest of my family. We danced, and had a good time. That was September.
By that time, we had developed a routine. We would go to his house, where he lived with his mom and step dad, every Sunday, and he would cook me dinner. Then I would lay down and take a nap, since I had to work that night. It worked for us. All that changed once October rolled around.
As you may have guessed by now, in October he asked me to marry him. Of course, I said yes. I couldn't imagine my life without him. Even my daughter, at 11, knew he was making me very happy. So we pulled out all the stops and got married two months later, one week before Christmas eve. It was a very simple wedding, as weddings go. All that mattered was that I was marrying a man that I loved and respected. And he loved me too. I never thought I would have this kind of love.
With one failed marriage behind me, I wasn't looking for another relationship. It totally caught me by surprise. I know it did him too. He had been in a long term relationship that had ended badly. We both fought this tooth and nail. But in the end, love won, and we became Husband and Wife.
To this day I go around asking people how long they knew each other before they got married. For us, it was 6 months. And what a great 6 months it was! We are still happy together, and will celebrate our 23rd wedding anniversary this December.
Sometimes you need to wait for the right person. I truly believe that there is a soul mate for every person. I found mine.
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