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DESTINED TO BE NEIGHBORS
And there is a most
wonderful story about a couple that had been working in the same professional
field but didn't know it and then purchased their individual homes right
next door to each other but didn't know it and then while working in
their backyards met each other and got to know each other which led
to this and that and that and THAT and then tying the knot (they know
it now!).
"...PACKED
UP MY TENT...AND WE WALKED OFF TOGETHER..AND HAVE BEEN TOGETHER EVER
SINCE."
Wade and I met hiking
the Appalachian Trail. He was hiking the entire trail for his second
time, and I was hiking it for the first time with my two dogs. We met
walking in the woods just outside Hot Springs. He was getting water
from a stream and my dogs ran up to him. Narf helped himself to Wade's
bag on trail snacks and muddied up the stream. Benorf and I both fell
in love with him right then. I because he didn't get upset by Narf's
serious lack of trail etiquette, and Benorf because Wade was tall and
had long legs that she could walk between and allow him to scratch her
back. We all camped on top of Max Patch Mountain that night and talked
under the stars even though it was extremely cold. I was afraid to let
the night end so rather than interrupting the flow of conversation to
go get my sleeping bag I pulled Narf up on top of me for warmth. The
next morning it was raining and Wade was packed and ready to go, but
instead of leaving he waited in the rain while I packed up my tent and
all my gear and we walked off together and have been together ever since.
"WHAT A SILLY GUY FOR STANDING THERE AND STARING AT ME LIKE
THAT."
I first met my husband
when I was seventeen years old. I was taking the bus to meet my father
at his work - he was taking me to buy my first car. While I was standing
at the bus stop just up the hill from an intersection, I noticed this
guy watching me from the corner at the bottom of the hill. It made me
smile at first, and then a little uncomfortable. Then he started walking
across the intersection towards the other side of the street - but the
whole time he was walking he kept looking back at me and smiling. I
thought it was kind of cute - although he didn't typically look like
the type of guy that I was attracted to. He had long black hair past
his shoulders, a torn black leather jacket, and had a 3-day growth on
his beard. When he got to the opposite corner of the intersection, he
just leaned against the building and watched me - flirting with me with
the sexy look in his eyes and his sweet little grin. I couldn't help
but smile back and at the same time
I kept thinking to myself "what a silly guy for standing there
and staring at me like that!" Well then, he started walking back
across the intersection to the same side of the street as I was on!
I kept thinking "Oh my god! Why is he coming back over here! Where
is my bus! Oh my god, why did I smile at him!" Needless to say
- my bus didn't get to me before he did. We talked briefly, small talk
about where I was going, etc. And then he asked if he could call me
and we could go out sometime. I don't know what possessed me to give
him my telephone number - it was so out of my character to give my number
to a guy I didn't even know at all. Looking back I believe it was some
type of fate - like we made a connection without really understanding
it at the time. Anyways, my bus came along and he went his way, and
I went to buy my car. Within a couple of days he called and we made
plans to go for coffee. I had my car then, and so I was to pick him
up at his brother's home where he was living at the time, and we would
go out from there. The date was set. Unfortunately, there was a mix
up in the address he gave me. I spent an hour and a half trying to find
the address on 10th Street that I later found out was actually on 10th
Avenue! Thinking that I had been stood up, I decided to go back home
and forget about persuing this date. And since I didn't have his number,
there wasn't much I could do anyways. I carried on with my friends as
usual - going out, meeting lots of new people, and having fun.
FOUR MONTHS LATER..........I get this phone call, from a guy, and the
first thing he says is "guess who this is?" Well, during the
past four months I had met a lot of new people, and a lot of guys, so
I started naming all of the guys that I could think of. By the time
I named the fifth or sixth guy I knew, he interupted by saying "maybe
it wasn't such a good idea that I called". He finally tells me
that he's the guy that I met at the
bus stop, and asks me why I stood him up on our date! (To this day we
still disagree as to whose mistake this really was.) By this time he
had his own place and we did get together for coffee. In only 2 short
weeks we had fallen so deeply in love with each that it scared the both
of us - especially since we were both still quite young. Within 3 months
he asked me to marry him - and after 9 months I finally said "yes".
A year and a half after we first met - we were married in the summer
of 1981. I was nineteen, and he was twenty-two.
EIGHTEEN AND A HALF YEARS AND TWO CHILDREN LATER (boy now 15 yrs old
& girl now 12 yrs old), we are still happily married. Married life
has its ups and downs, but we have grown strong together and still talk
about growing old together-how we want it to be. We still work at following
our dreams. We still hug and hold hands, kiss each other good-night,
say 'I love you', and say 'I'm sorry'. We are honest, but not hurtful,
with each other when we are happy, angry, or sad. We've learned how
not to go to bed angry with each other. We are grateful for all that
we have and try not to take any of it for granted. We help others as
much as we can - its our way to give back for all of the help others
have given to us over the years. We do our very best to teach our children
by example what a good marriage looks like, and how to be in a successful
marriage so that they can take the best of what we teach them and build
on that for themselves. It is our responsiblity as their parents - who
else is going to teach them? It's our legacy to them and their children
- so that their families learn how to be healthy and strong. I have
learned a lot about relationships in my short 38 years - I am gratelful
for the incredible insights and gifts that were passed on to me that
have ensured the success of all of my relationships - but especially
for my marriage. If I can help just one other person with their relationship
just by sharing my story - then spending the time to write this letter
will have been worth it. You get what you are willing to work for.
MET HIM
IN IRAQ WHEN I WAS IN BUFFALO
We first met through
a letter. I was a receptionist for a small corporation in Western New
York. He was a Marine stationed in North Carolina. He was currently
serving in Operation Desert Storm in the Middle East. One of the executives
at the company I worked for was starting a letter drive. Her nephew
was serving in the gulf war and she knew how important morale was to
the young men and women serving in the Middle East.
So I wrote a letter. Amazingly enough, this really nice man responded.
The letter was very simple, very basic. I liked the way this Staff Sgt.
was straightfoward. He was just looking for a friend. He was single
and practically alone in this world. He was just nice. We formed a friendship.
Letters crossed paths constantly during the next year. We must have
written to each other at least three or four times a week in the last
half of that year.
I came home from work to my parent house to hear the phone ringing.
I nearly died. It was "him". He had returned to North Carolina
from the Middle East. He wanted to come meet me in person. He stressed
there was no pressure involved. He just wanted to thank me for being
there for him during that incredibly long year. I should have know then.
My heart nearly beat itself out of my chest, I was so excited. Not that
I would admit it to anyone!
So he drove up from North Carolina to Western New York. My first glimpse
of him in person is difficult to explain. It was as if I had also just
found my way home. He was suppose to stay three days. He stayed a week.
When he left, we were engaged to be married. We married three months
later.
Now, just under 9 years and three children later, we still are madly
in love. There have been bumps in the road, but we know that we were
meant to be together. How else could I say, I met my husband in Iraq.....while
I was in Buffalo?
We'd
Sure love to read your First Meeting story.
<<<
Creating Marriage
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