Valentine's Day

  My wife, Lisa has been asking me to write something romantic for her for a long time.  Anyone familiar with my work knows that there is little romance in it.  If you have the stomach for violence you can click on any of the stories on this site and see for yourself.
  I tried writing a love story for her once...something about a fireman saving some kittens for a damsel in distress.  I gave her the first part of that story some two or three years ago and now and then she inquires about the status of its completion.  Unfortunately my imagination just isn't geared for it.  In the unwritten conclusion, the fireman went out on a binge and those poor kittens burned to toast and the damsel put a couple of .45 slugs in the fireman's gut for revenge.
  It finally occurred to me that the only way I could write something romantic for my wife would be to recount the story of how we met.  We have often been told that our story is somewhat of a fairy tale romance and I am grateful every day that our lives have brought us to where we are today.


  Some people don't believe in love at first sight.  The thought of knowing that you want to spend the rest of your life with someone the minute you lay eyes on them does seem pretty preposterous when you think about it.  I probably wouldn't believe it myself if it didn't happen to me.
  I was seventeen years old and an awkward, scared college freshman trying to fit in with the new crowd I had been thrown into.  It was one of the first weekends of the semester and all of the cool kids were going to frat parties that they had been invited to.  My social calendar was pitifully bare.
  My group of misfit friends and I ventured out to see what kind of trouble we could find.  After being turned away from half a dozen frat parties we took a stroll down sorority row and tried making conversation with several different young ladies who were too cool to give us the time of day.
  Somebody in our group had heard of a house party being thrown by someone in the drama department.  We weren't about to climb to the top of the social ladder at a drama party, but we figured there would be beer and we really had nowhere else to go.
   I don't remember a whole lot about the party.  It seems that we entered the picture as things were winding down.  But I do remember the girl with the long dark hair and the deep brown eyes.  I remember the way she smiled at me and that I lost myself in her gaze.  And I remember feeling so strongly drawn to her that I felt like I had known her all my life.  The sound of her voice struck a chord in my soul and I stayed up half the night talking with her.
  That was twenty-four years ago.  We dated for a long time in college, and then we went our separate ways.  We were apart for about fourteen years and my love for her never died.  I knew that somehow, someday our paths would cross again and they did.
  A lot has happened in between the lines.  But the most important part is that we are together today.  My wife is my best friend and the love of my life.  I can still get lost in her gaze and I know that not only have I known her all my life, I would gladly spend several lifetimes by her side.