Thursday, November 30, 2006

Flippin the Script

All right. I can't tell you how much I have loved all of the stories. Seriously. I was in my Curriculum Ideologies class last night laughing HARD with a friend as we read through these again.

In the interest of "fair and balanced", let's here the stories of the moment when they got you. You know what I mean.

The hook. The line. The sinker and she's reeled in!

It's only fair that I start out with mine, right?

For the first boyfriend, it was his leather jacket. God, he smelled so good. And he was funny. And maybe a little dangerous. (OK, OK - I liked bad boys...)

The next one, oh, he was a quiet one. He put his time in and his groundwork was amazing. I barely knew that I was being snagged until I was head over heels in love, even though he drove a Camero ( which I called the Disco sled). To this day, I think he could make my heart leap were I to see him.

And then there is Terrance. Smelled good...Hell Yes. Older? Yep. But the moment? He had asked me to go to a friend of his wedding for our first "real" date. All right, seems honorable enough. He has to pick me up at 7 in the morning to get to the part of the state where the wedding is being held.

I open the door and he is standing there is a Beautiful suit (with snakeskin shoes) holding a bag and a Large cup of tea. He says, "It's really early and I thought you would be hungry, so I brought you a croissant and tea. You look amazing, by the way."

I was a goner.

Spill the gushiness...

67 comments:

Anonymous said...

In college I started dating this guy who sat behind me in one of my classes. We went to a party in his dorm on our second date. We were talking to his very drunk roomate when the roomate stumbled against me and said "Ummmm the Amazon Goddess smells good." I pushed him off and was like "What did he say?" The guy I was with blushed and admitted that he had come home from the first day of class bragging about how he had managed to score a seat behind an Amazon Goddess and they had refered to me that way from time to time. He had been crushing on me for over a month before he asked me out and his buddies had been giving him hell about having a crush on a woman who was way out of his league. I thought that was really sexy and sweet that he thought of me that way. I am tall and curvy and have always been self concious about my size and there he was thinking it was what made me sexy and making no secret about how much he liked me when he could have been playing it cool. He got very lucky that night and for many nights after.

Anonymous said...

There was one guy in high school who would pick up coffee for me on his way to school every morning after 7am freeze-my-butt-off marching band rehersal. I fell hard for him, he was so sweet and considerate.

Anonymous said...

The grown man who is taking his sweet time courting me even when he lives an hour away and stays over when we have a date. And sleeps cozied up next to me, but has never pushed the limits physically.

Anonymous said...

On a trip to Florida I had walked in my boyfriends hotel room and found him making out with another girl on the first day of the trip. So a few nights later it is new years eve, we're all at Epcot Center and I am crying my eyes out. A guy that I had been friends with spent the whole night comforting me, he was so considerate. As the fireworks started he held my hand and said "Don't go into a new year thinking about an old boyfriend." My eyes opened up suddenly and I realized the guy I should have been dating had been with me the whole time.

Anonymous said...

I was 18, single and pretty much loving it when I met him. He wasn't my type, in fact my complete opposite. He asked me out, I went on what I thought was a "pity date" with him because I didn't want to be mean. A week later he told me he was "sweet on me". I thought it was cute, but still I didn't really have feelings for him. We became pretty good friends and he was always there for me. I was happy to have my "buddy". Then out of the blue, he stopped talking to me... wouldn't return my phone calls.. nothing! That's when I realized I was about to lose the best guy ever. He had me right then because for some reason I never want what's right in front of me, I want what I think I can't have. Fortunately for me, I told him how much I missed him and we're now happily married!

Anonymous said...

I had just come out of a bad relationship, in fact was still in the process of getting out, and there was this guy that I really admired. He was totally the opposite of the ex I was getting away from...He was scrawny, pale, a bit nerdy (in a cute way), totally cared nothing for what people thought of him or popularity and was extremely intelligent. We were friends for a long time, but never spent time alone. Finally I got tired of liking him and him not doing anything about it (we flirted all the time), so I was the one to stop talking to him. 2 months later, on my birthday, he finally said "so you wanna go out?". A bit anticlimactic, but I similarly replied-- "sure". Luckily he got better about being bold. His marriage proposal was great. :)

Anonymous said...

We were at a hiking lookout and he grabbed my arm and say "look, look at that! that is SO cute!" so I kept looking for a squirrel or chipmunk but he was actually pointing to a little girl's patent red leather shoes. I was totally ready to commit and settle down so that sealed the deal for me.

He's never ever gotten that excited about shoes again LOL oh well.. probably a good thing.

Anonymous said...

I knew he was different the afternoon we were just hanging out at my parents house. I was laying on my bed, and he was rubbing my stomach (which I was self-conscious about, but he loved), and he suddenly sat up and said "just think, some day you could be carrying our baby in there!". He was 17, and I was 18. We're older now, and have been married for 3 years.

Anonymous said...

Oh, and I can't WAIT to have his baby.

Anonymous said...

after one of our first dates, he walked me out to my car and we had a quick peck on the lips and i made my way into the seat of my car. I watched him walk back to the sidewalk and started my car. Before i knew it, he was knocking on my window. I unlocked the door and he slid in saying, "that wasn't a kiss, i want a big one" and leaned in for an amazing fireworks inducing hollywood kiss.

Still together today:)

Anonymous said...

I have had some pretty great relationships in the past, great guys, great lovers. However, my man aka SH (sexy hubby) is the most incredible lover I have ever had. Our skin becomes hot when we touch even in the night while asleep. Seriously, we cannot sleep with the heat on even in the dead of winter.

I have always had a healthy appetite but with him it is a constant 24/7 craving even after all these years. We still make out like teenagers and go at it in every room of the house, the car....

Additionally he does so many wonderful things to take care of me from bringing me my morning coffee in bed to gifts of beautiful jewelry "just because". So it isn't anything he says/said but what he does and WOW he does it damn good!!

Anonymous said...

When he introduced me to his parents as "the girl i want to spend the res tof my life with" was the moment I knew.
He has had me ever since.

Anonymous said...

My husband is a good man. He works a full time job, often overtime. He does the grocery shopping, cooking and helps out a lot with the cleaning. He's always been a hands on dad. He changed just about as many diapers when the kids were babies as I did. He stayed up just about as many nights with them. He truly is a partner to me.

Yes, he has faults, as do I, but he really is a keeper.

I think that comment I most relate to was the little girl's cute little red shoes. That's the kind of thing that made me fall in love with my husband. He was so good with the kids in his extended family. It was clear to me when I first started dating him that he loved children. The little ones would run up to him and throw their arms around him and were always excited to see him. He would take time out to take them to see movies or bring them a little something to brighten their days. Everyone in his family spoke highly of him, and I figured that if everyone loved him, he must be pretty lovable. I was right. ;)

Anonymous said...

My husband had me when I realized he would do whatever it took for us to be together. While we were dating we lived an hour apart but he would drive down in the middle of the week "just because he missed me". When I went to college we were 3 hours apart and I saw him every weekend. He sacrificed so much to show me he was commited to us as a couple. I would catch him staring at me and he would say things like "I keep thinking I'll wake up and you might just be a dream". We are still smitten with each other 7 years later. He gives me butterflies and fireworks every day.

Anonymous said...

My friend "T" - he had me 13 years ago when I first smelled him...and he still smells just as good today. Why didn't I pick him for "the one." We were both single at the time and now I'm getting a "D" and he's still single. HUMMM...

BTW - We girls talk about his smell still to this day. YUMMERS. We just hug him so we can smell him...

Wendee said...

My current SO... I was in "lust" with him for 10 years, would think about him while I was with other guys. We had one encounter about 4 years into knowing eachother, but he was getting married, and I was moving 1200 miles away. Since then we've both had 2 sons, and are divorced. I knew he was the "one" then and now he's grown into an amazing father, I know he's the "one" now.
It was completely obvious when he danced with my 2 year old in his arms at the skating rink, making his day. A few weeks after we found eachother again, he told his ex about us, faced her anger when he told her it was me (she knew he cheated on her with me way back when), and let her know that I would be a part of her children's lives.
After getting to know eachother over the past 8 months, mostly on the phone (he lives 800 miles away), I will be moving in with him, back "home", March 2007... He says he will wait forever for me if he has to. :)

Anonymous said...

We met at a mutual friend's engagement party and were having a nice conversation. He asked me some very direct questions about my hobbies: do you like to ski? do you like to bicycle? etc. It dawned on me that he was running down a little mental checklist. It amused me but I kept answering the questions, and finally he said, "Okay, great, would you like to have dinner with me tomorrow?" Apparently I'd met enough of his criteria. It was a hilariously methodical way to pick a girlfriend, but typical of his engineer's mindset. I could see that he was not the type to play games or beat around the bush! I was worried that it wouldn't last if I turned out not to be as good at sports as he expected, or something, but in fact he really was just concerned with finding someone who would enjoy sharing in some of the things he loved, and might be able to introduce him to other things he'd also love. We've been together eight years and counting.

Anonymous said...

When he asked me to go back to his apartment to watch The Lion King, he was 27 and I was 25 and I was hooked!

Cynthia said...

My current BF hooked me when he brought me books as a present on our first date because he knows how much I love to read. But what really hooked me is the fact that he had written a short message on one of the pages in the middle of the book. It was just something short about how he hoped I would enjoy the book as much as he did, but it made me smile. I also love how sometimes he will send me an email or call out of the blue just to say that he's thinking about me and that he misses me. We do live an hour apart and he's willing to spend two hours (literally) in rush hour traffic in the middle of the week just so we can see each other more and spend time together. He's a keeper.

Anonymous said...

We had only been dating a month. I came down with the flu and was not able to get in touch with him to cancel our Friday night date. I answered the door and nearly passed out at his feet. He helped me to bed and went to the grocery store to get me crackers and ginger ale. Then he spent the night on my couch. He left Saturday morning but came back that afternoon because he said he "just had a feeling I needed him." Sure enough 1:00am Sunday morning he physically carried me to his car and rushed me to the emergency room where I was given IV fluids and sent home shortly after sunrise. He stayed with me all day Sunday, making sure I got my medicine on time and to see that I was getting enough fluids and keeping them down. He even called in sick to work Monday to make sure I was not going to get dehydrated again. Monday night as he was on his way home he almost made it to the door before saying "Damn. Guess I shoulda got that flu shot back in the Fall." then he staggered out my front door and vomited in my bushes. I put him in my bed and proceeded to take care if him for three days. Luckily he was not as sick as I was because I don't think I could have carried him to my car! 12 years later and we are still taking care of each other "In sickness and in health." We still laugh that the first time he ever undressed me it was to wash the puke off my pajamas!

Raquita said...

We met online (he was the best wentyfive bucks i EVER SPENT) and talked for a month in the most fun back and forth conversations - we met and it was like we just picked up where we left off- he was teh sweetest guy, most intelegent guy I'd ever met - his eyes just sparkled while we talked and i was little smitten - (okay maybe more than a little) he got me the next morning when I gave him a glass of OJ and he was so excited that it was not from concentrate - he actually thought it was fresh squeezed. His eyes just sparkled the same way they had when we were talking and I knew he was just as excited about me as he was by fresh oj - which he'd never had either.
We've been married a little over a year and our daughter just turned two.

That Chick Over There said...

I was looking for something to listen to in my boyfriend's extensive CD collection and I came upon "The Bee Gees greatest hits" sort of hidden in the back.

A kindred soul!

Our wedding recessional was "The Wedding Song" by the Bee Gees. (The processional was "Love will Keep us together!" by Captain and Tenille, but that's another story all together)

Anonymous said...

Oh, this would have to be the ex-boyfriend who baked me a birthday cake. From scratch. And brought it to my house.

Did I mention I'm a Christmas baby? And this was in high school and he didn't have a drivers license. So he talked his Mom into driving him over there on Christmas Day.

He wasn't even my boyfriend yet.

We dated for a couple years and broke up, and I'm now happily married, but that is still the sweetest thing anyone has ever done for me.

Anonymous said...

Five years ago I was in the breakroom at work early one morning. Three weeks previous to that morning, I'd left the man I was living with at the university. Unbelievably, I thought he had proposed, and we spent a year together with me convinced we were getting married some day. We had discovered the mistake when I'd asked him about setting a date. So I was in the breakroom pouring coffee, and coworker came in.

Him: You're here early!
Me: My commute's shorter now.
Him: What happened to the university?
Me: I left. I'd thought he'd proposed, but he hadn't really.
Him: Living in a fool's paradise, hunh?
Me: BAHAHAHA!

My ex had been so serious all the time, so sensitive, and so depressed ... this guy was not coddling me or poor-thinging me. He was treating me like an adult human being and, yeah, it was a freakin' stupid situation and he was pointing it out. It was the first time I'd laughed in three weeks. It felt so good.

We've been married for a little over a month now. He has never sugarcoated things. Sometimes I get tired of his bluntness, but to live in a state of honesty ... I feel so lucky!

Anonymous said...

This will sound cheesy, but a few weeks after we started dating my boyfriend (now husband) said to me... 'i don't even play the lottery anymore... i feel like i've won it already.'... I was hooked.

Anonymous said...

This is long after he "got" me (I'm 11:32), but my husband still amazes me. Last night, he walked by me and said with all sincerity "You look great tonight." The kicker? I was in my baggy t-shirt and pj pants, had just gotten out of the shower (no makeup or good hair going on) and was sitting on the toilet doing the deed.

I said, "seriously? Are you kidding me?" His reply: "No, actually I thought that earlier too, when you were studying, it's just that I think if I tell you every time that I remember you're amazing, you'd probably get annoyed." Let's keep in mind that I'm overweight and by no means what most people would consider hot. And he's serious with this stuff. He "gets" me more each day.

Anonymous said...

I'm the one who a while back wrote about being very blessed to have a Frenchman in my life who treats me like gold. He had to pursue me for a year, and for a year I kept telling him to just stay in France and never come back because we'd never date, I would never marry again, I was bitter, go away, etc. Slowly, he won me over to "reconsider" my plan, and 13 months after we originally met, he came to visit.

So, I went to the airport to pick him up. He had flown from France to a connecting flight in the US and then to my place. My parents had the kids, so I was alone, looking up the escalator until he arrived. And then...I saw him, in a suit, a dozen red roses in his hands. He had worn a suit (that couldn't have been incredibly comfortable!) all the way from France just because I once told him how handsome he looked in one. The roses he bought at the connecting city and sat for two hours on the plane with them on his lap so he'd have them when he arrived. He was one of the last ones from the plane to get to baggage claim too because he wanted to shave (he had been traveling for a long time to get to me, after all), put on cologne, and brush his teeth. All that effort...just for me???? Me???? I melted. As we waited for his luggage, I crawled into his lap and twined my arms around his neck, resting my nose against his skin and just breathing in the delicious scent of a man I knew would then forever be in my life, no matter how much it scared me to care this much about another man again!

Anonymous said...

I was in a crappy mood, and taking it out on him...telling him that I hated his car because it was uncomfortable, that the fleece seat covers were stuffy, and I don't know what else. I had to go upstairs to grab something, and when I came back the seat cover on my seat was gone, and it hasn't been back since. I smile every time I notice.

He could have just gotten annoyed right back at me for taking my bad mood out on him, but he tries to be better than that, and that makes me want to be better than that, and we have a much better relationship because of it. And I no longer have to deal with the annoying stuffy seat cover that's always trying to slip off underneath me, so maybe I'll keep him around.

Anonymous said...

I wear glasses – contacts by day – but w.out either, I am blind as a bat. The thing that got me was, one night I was desperately searching for my glasses so I could see, and he gingerly says to me “ I’ll be your eyes baby”.

Stick a fork in me – I was/am done

Anonymous said...

When I was a teenager I had a girlfriend that guys just loved. I couldn't take any guy I was dating anywhere near her.

I would be on dates and run into her and spend the rest of the evening fielding questions about her.

Not her fault that she's a hottie and I dated a few jerks. Anyway, I'm engaged to my husband and it's finally time for him to meet my friend.

We meet and afterwards I say to him: Don't you think she's pretty?

His answer? No. She's got bad skin and no boobs.

Anonymous said...

Thanks to all of you... I know now why I can't settle.

Anonymous said...

I met a very debonair (married) man when I started my first “real” job. He was so kind and gentle from the beginning. He would speak so highly of his wife, mom, sisters. I had the BIGGEST crush on him for the LONGEST time. One day over lunch we discussed the possibility of a relationship on the side as I was in a relationship as well. It worked for two years we had a very strong relationship, to this day we talk and still have that special spark. We are both married and still travel the huge distances between us to embrace each other on our own special occasions. We love each other on a strange fairy tale level and for us this is perfect.

Anonymous said...

Are your spouses in on this special fairy tale? Something tells me if they are, it's not their happily ever after.

Anonymous said...

If there is one thing I know from being married - I can't know anyone else's reality.

Sometimes we marry people who ...well, aren't our perfect matches. We make do, we stay.

Her fairy tale doesn't have to follow the same script as yours. Just as mine doesn't (and isn't)-but I can be glad that they have found a way to manage to keep their connection.

Anonymous said...

7:34's "Fairy Tale" is built on deception and lies. Anyone who sees any beauty in that is seriously disturbed. She liked the fact that he spoke so highly of his wife. Those were nothing but empty words if he had so little respect for her that he screwd around on her. Yep, he's a winner allright. Newsflash. Good people make mistakes, but they recignize them and learn from them and don't repeat them on purpose and they certianly don't continue them for years and go to great lengths to continue them.

me, a dreamer and believer said...

Dawn, first of all - thanks for the lovely thread today, and the great idea which generated so many laughs yesterday! Wonderful.

To the lady posting of her fairy tale with the married man - did you get the reaction you were expecting from wives and significant others? One has to conclude that a) you were jealous and trying to stir up the waters, or b) looking to ruin the happy mood, for whatever reason....

To the rest of us? Let's ignore that. And more than anything? Thank God for the beautiful stories and anecdotes that we can treasure and know that we are really and truly loved ~ and this love is shown in person, in public, proudly and without shame, lies, or sneakiness.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

My husband had me on our second date when he said in all sincerity, "would you be offended if I asked if I could kiss you?" A gentlemen and a truly beautiful soul, I've loved him ever since. And yes, I am blessed. I try to never lose sight of that.

Anonymous said...

I usually prefer to tell nasty stories about my ex-husband, and God knows there are plenty.
But, here's a nice one.

I went on a shopping trip with a friend of mine, and left my wallet in a phone booth, with all my cash in it, about $300. This was nearly 15 years ago, and I was making crap money and had no credit cards, so it was a lot of money for me. The wallet of course was gone when I realized what I had done. I was devastated.
My ex wired me $330 so I could go on my trip. The extra $30 was so I could buy a new wallet.

Of course, he was able to do that because I was the one paying all the bills while he arsed around.
He's an arsehole, and now I see he always was, but he had his good moments, too. That was one of them.

Anonymous said...

"Wendee..."

It's not surprising your Prince Charming's marriage didn't last since he screwed around with you before he was even married.
Now you think it's romantic that he "faced his ex's anger" over him bringing her children around the woman he once cheated on her with?
Are you kidding?

Amanda Nellie said...

My husband and I went on our first date. After dinner he went to open the car door for me.

He pushed me up against the car and kissed me.

Then he laid his hands on my size 12 waist that I was so ashamed of and thought was fat and blubbery and he said "You have the most incredible body."

Anonymous said...

Re: the "fairy tale," no, I don't think she was intent on stirring anything up, or ruining the happy mood. I think she thought there would be space to share a story that few people would understand. She may not have expected the reaction she got, but she probably should have, if she has read other comments on other posts.

People appear to personalize others' situations an awful lot on these comments, and the vitriol is pretty awful at times. Support where you feel inclined to support, but I will never understand the vulture-like rending of women that goes on here sometimes. Maybe people feel the need to exorcise their personal frsutrations safely on complete strangers? Paint their judgments all over someone else? It reminds me an awful lot of an anti-choice friend I had who changed her mind when she caught pregnant. We don't know what's going on in that woman's life. If she told you her spouse was mean or thoughtless, the comments might change in tone. Humanity, you are so fickle....

People live differently. Some choices can be very hard. Relationships can be compromising. There are lots of ways to love. Nuclear families aren't for everyone, either, no matter how difficult that may be for some folks to believe.

Go ahead and cast your stones, folks. Much good may it do you.

Anonymous said...

I have to agree with 10:07. I have been cheated on it would have made me sick to the very depths of my soul to think that the woman who broke up my marriage was going to be a part of my children's lives. I thank God that relationship did not last. I know a lot of women are not that lucky and my heart goes out to them. Please try to have a little sensitivity toward your lover's ex-wife. Your joy is built on her pain and the pain of her children as well. Nope, not romantic at all.

Anonymous said...

And whose husband have you been screwing, 10:16?

Anonymous said...

Amanda,
That is soooooo sexy. Does he have a brother?

Anonymous said...

I can also find it in my heart to tell a nice story about my evil ex-husband. We met in college and were friends for about a year before we started dating. A few months before our first date we were both taking Summer school courses. The first session of Summer school I think I was taking a computer class for my first class of the day. We both would hang out in the student center after our first class. He always walked in a couple of minutes after I got there and we would have a cup of coffee together. Second session I was getting one of my required PE classes out of the way and taking a fittness walking class...in July...In North Carolina. I would stagger into the student center after that class and all I wanted was ice water or Gatorade or Diet Coke and there he stood adorable as Hell, waiting for me, holding the steaming hot cup of coffee he had just bought me. It is a wonder he didn't give me a heat stroke. He was just too cute for me to break his heart (if I had known then what I know now) so I drank the coffee until he finally asked me what my first class was. After that it was Diet Coke every day.

Anonymous said...

I was on the couch trying to get some work finished up while he was sleeping when, all of a sudden, I began to cry. Okay, I admit it, I was sobbing! I finally gave up and went and crawled back in bed with him and snuggled up close to him. Barely awake, he turned over, wrapped his arms around me, and said, 'It'll be okay honey, the south will rise again.' I couldn't do anything but laugh after that!

As a matter of fact, he had me laughing through my tears again today at our wedding!

Anonymous said...

We started dating when I was 19 and I had just moved back home. I hadn't even told my parents about him yet since had only been a couple months. On the way to school one day, I had a terrible car accident and totaled my car. I was okay, but I spent a few at home in bed.

Apparently, he had called my house but I was sleeping. He told my mom he just wanted to stop by and drop off a couple things. When I woke up my room was filled with balloons and flowers. In a small bag was a teddy bear and matchbox car. The card read, "I'm so glad you're okay. Here's this since I can't be your teddy bear. Oh, and I thought you'd need some new wheels too." Needless to say, I was hooked.

Anonymous said...

I knew for sure he was a keeper when he took his last day of vacation from work to help me get my mother to her plastic surgery appointment in a city an hour away. She had laser resurfacing and came out of there looking like she had been in a fire, and he was good-natured about the whole thing.

Anonymous said...

Men are such amazing creatures, aren't they? For me, it was the first time he kissed me on the forehead. Just a little insignificant kiss but it said so much to me......

FTMo2 said...

I believe a lot in destiny. I have dreams sometimes that 'foretell' what will happen next. I 'knew' that the year I turned 23 would be the year I would get married and that the man I kissed on New Year's Eve would be the one. The guy I was currently dating was not one I would normally date. He wasn't the 'bad boy' preppy thing - he was a geek with great blue eyes. He was set to work the midnight shift and wouldn't be there until 1 a.m. On my way to the party, I decided to set my watch back an hour so that things would be just right. Turns out I didn't need to...he took a big risk and called in sick just to be with me that night. He didn't want any other guy to get his hands on me and get that New Year's Eve (and first)Kiss.

We brought the New Year in with a kiss - less than 2 months later we were engaged. Married in August of the same year. We are now working on our 5th year together and I am carrying our second child. I couldn't be more blessed (even if he is a stubborn a$$ sometimes!).

Anonymous said...

About ten years ago when I was in college, a friend got me interested in a music/movie based Internet chatroom. I started talking to several people there, one of whom was another university student 13 hours away in Canada (I was in Virginia). We became good friends, chatted often, eventually exchanged letters and phone calls. He was a dj at his campus radio station, and dedicated a show to me on my birthday (which I now have on tape).
He also sent me the best, most thoughtful present I have ever gotten, which was a carefully selected package full of the things I had told him I liked. It arrived precisely on my birthday. I was blown away.
Nine months later, during a conversation online, he asked me if I'd like to meet in person. I answered yes, and had to leave for class. When I returned that night, he had rented a car and made arrangements to drive down the next weekend. I could not believe that he cared enough to make such quick and determined plans.
The next Saturday night, the car pulled up and a handsome man got out. As he stood at my door in the pouring rain, looking nervous and drenched, I knew he had me.
Eight years of marriage and two children later, he still does.

Carolie said...

I married too young, and got divorced (he's a good man, and still a friend--we were too young and "in love with being in love").

Years passed. I had a penpal who'd progressed, over the course of almost eight years, from e-mail to chat to phone conversations. One day, he informed me he was coming to meet me. I begged him NOT to come, afraid our meeting would change things, and ruin a friendship I'd come to count on. He came anyway.

Things were great and our relationship flourished, but I was very clear that I was NOT ready to think about getting married again. I had a great job, my own home, was researching adopting as a single parent. I told him he was NOT to get me an engagement ring or propose to me--the answer would be "no."

I went cross country to visit him about a year after we started seeing one another face to face (he came to visit me every month for a year). He had beautiful, romantic surprises for my birthday. Then more romantic surprises for Valentine's Day, also that week. Then we went to visit a cheesy tourist trap that happened to have a beautiful church I wanted to see. That night, under an amazing blanket of stars, on the steps of that church, he got on one knee. I trembled, tears threatening, steeling myself to say no.

He said "My soul has been crying out for yours since the day I was born. I've wandered the wilderness, knowing you were out there somewhere. Now that I've found you, I can't let go. Please, say you'll marry me."

I said yes.

We'll celebrate our second anniversary in January. I sold my house, told my clients I was going freelance, left it all behind to follow my Sailor. He's goofy and silly, and a big geek. He helps protect our country. And he's my soulmate.

Anonymous said...

Oh, these are great!

I was a councilor at a summer camp for the arts right after I graduated college. The first day there I saw this beautiful man with long flowy hair and a cute beard. He was the pinnacle of "my type." I fell in love with him at first sight and married him three years later.

For the record, he did not have love at first sight and we didn't even date that first year. But when we ran into each other two years later at the same camp, we connected right away and have been together ever since. He no longer has much hair at all, but I would trade that in for all the other amazing things he does for me. Best of all, he is wonderful with children and is a truly awesome dad. *swoon*

Anonymous said...

I was finally giving in to a guy that had pursued me for a long time. While we were making out my shirt hiked up a little. Rather than take advantage or rush through, he pulled it back down. He was worried I might get cold.

Anonymous said...

One night in college my roommates and I were throwing a party and a guy I'd been friends with forever sat down with me on this little arm chair we had. It's a little chair but we're both real skinny so we fit. He put his arm around me(he still says just because it helped us fit better on the chair) and I swear I had never felt anything so amazing in my life. At that moment everything just clicked and I knew he was special. He says he felt the same thing. That was a while ago but I still have that feeling every time he puts his arm around me and lucky for me he will be my husband in just 57 days!

Anonymous said...

5:04, the forehead kiss signifies the move from lust in his groin to love and caring in his heart to me. I love the forehead kiss, too.

When I was in college, I was at a party with a friend of mine. A guy I barely knew was there and flirting with me, but I kept ignoring him because I was minding my friend who got really drunk and, consequently, really sick shortly thereafter. She was outside throwing up and shaking because she was cold, but she was too sick to walk back inside, so I took my shirt off (I was wearing a camisol under it) and wrapped her up in it. The flirtatious guy followed me outside and when he saw us, he came over and took his OWN shirt off and gave it to my friend (who he didn't know at all) so that I didn't have to stand in the cold with no shirt. The fact that he literally gave me the shirt off his back impressed me, but what really won me over was that he stayed outside with the me the rest of the night and helped me take care of my friend.

We dated for 2 years after that.

Mitzi Green said...

i never used text messaging until i met him. not long after we started seeing each other, i text messaged him "is it weird that i miss you already?" (i had just left his house.) he responded with "if its weird." i spent a good 20 minutes trying to figure out what the hell that meant, until i realized i had to scroll down for the rest of the message. what he said was "if its weird than i'm much weirder than you." we've now been married almost a year. and we send many text messages. i'm better at it now.

Anonymous said...

My fiance (M) and I haven't always had the perfect relationship, nor the best timing. He first asked me out three days after I got with my ex, and I'll confess, I did cheat on my ex with him *once*.

That was because my (now) fiance told me he loved me, and that he wanted me to be his first. I couldn't say no.

Years passed, we drifted apart, I thought I'd ruined our friendship, my ex got more and more abusive sexually and eventually we split. My 22nd birthday came around and I invited M out for it. He agreed, but only for an hour or so because of his illness (he has a muscular problem that leaves him in severe pain, and he has to take over 20 tablets for it a day). He met me in the pub. My sister's boyfriend turned up, along with his best friend.

My ex.

I was horrified, he was the last person I wanted to see, especially as I was well on my way to a good old drunk. I told M this, and he spoke to my sister and her partner to see if they could get rid of him. They couldn't - the bastard even came home with us and tried to follow me upstairs when I went to get changed!

We went back out for the evening to the bar I used to work in. Needless to say I was being fed drinks left right and centre so I ended up having to run to the loo every ten minutes or so to pee! One time my ex is being really "cosy" despite me being sat between a sofa arm and M, and so I'm dashing off to get some space.

I come back, and the ex has vanished, and M is looking rather proud of himself. I perked up immediately and had a rocking night. We get back to my house, and I'm not exactly able to walk in a straight line. M simply tells me to lean on him, and I ask him rather drunkenly how in hell he'd managed to scare my ex off. He just grins and tells me he'll let me know when I'm sober.

M carries me upstairs, sets me down on the bed and goes to leave. I ask him where in hell he thinks he's going. I won't go into too much detail, but GOD he was amazing.

But the moment when I truely knew I loved him?

The next morning, when he apologises to my parents for the noise the previous night - he told them his muscles seized up and all the moaning and shouting was from trying to get himself to move again!

Anonymous said...

My father set me up on a blind-date. We met a sports bar; and yes it was just as absolutely awful as you could image. He was such a dork and after an hour he was totally drunk.

My blind-date and I were playing pool next to this really handsome guy and his friends. I started to talk to him and we just instantly clicked it was like we had know each other for years. He asked me if I was with my boyfriend and I shyly explained no unfortunately I was on a blind-date set up by my father.

Ugh!

I figured he would go running for the hills but instead he asked me if I wanted to ditch my date and go out for coffee with him.

I explained that my blind-date was a friend of the family and I really couldn't just ditch him....So what did my "prince charming" do; he took me and my drunk blind-date out for coffee. My date ended up passing out and we sat talking for hours over coffee. I knew that very night he was the man I was meant to be with for the rest of my life. The next day my father asked how the date went and I said the guy was a joke, but I was so glad he set me up with him because if I hadn't been on that date I wouldn't have met the man I was going to marry.

Yes, after only a couple of hours together I already told my father I had met the guy I was going to marry.

A year later we were married.

Anonymous said...

I had liked this guy for a really long time, but unfortunately, it seemed that we were just going to be good friends. One day we went for a long walk through a really cute cozy area. There was a big beautiful church in front of us and we both sort of stopped to take it in.

I sort of brushed my hand against his accidentally and took my hand in his. I looked at him and we both leaned in for the most amazing kiss ever. Right as we did, the church bells went off. It was wonderful.

We dated for about a year after that, but that kiss will always be special.

Anonymous said...

Hey, 11:06....

Now I'm curious! How did M get rid on your ex on that date?

carolinagirl79 said...

I took my casual date over to a friend's house and he dropped to his knees to help her 5 year old build a house out of Lincoln Logs. I was a goner. Married 14 years, two beautiful children.

Anonymous said...

8.04:

He sat there and smiled. That's all. My sister, father and friend have all verified that fact. M can be scary when he's playing nice.

Also helps he grew his nails for a bet so they look like talons :)

Anonymous said...

When I was 16 my family and I went away w/ my mother's best friend and her family to Vermont for a week around New Year's. It just so happened that her new stepson (C) was going to be joining us. He was 22, handsome, funny and I had the most enormous crush on him. We were good friends, but because of the age difference I never imagined that he would look at me that way.

C and I spent the whole vacation skiing together, staying up late talking and spending pretty much every minute together, but I just figured that he just had no one else to hang out w/ (I was the closest in age to him) New Year's Eve everyone went out to dinner and then watched fireworks at the local ski resort. After everyone had returned to the cabin and gone to bed, C and I stayed up talking as usual. All the lights were out and we were sitting close and whispering so as not wake everyone. All of the sudden C leaned in close and whispered, "Please don't be mad, just promise you won't be mad" I had no idea what he was talking about and told I wasn't mad. "Just promise you won't get mad" Then he leaned in and kissed me. It caught me completly off guard and completly took my breath away.

It took another 5 years for us to work things out, but we just had out 2 year anniversary and I couldn't be happier

Anonymous said...

Most recently, there was the long time friend who would bring me coffee whenever he was off of work and I wasn't. It was just so sweet of him coming down to the office for five minutes just to make my day easier. This is the same guy who sent a dozen long stem roses... just because. I fell fast and hard. I guess it just didn't work out though.

And the first boyfriend I ever had. I doubt I'll ever forget. He gave me a promise ring the summer before I went away to college and told me he wanted to spend the rest of his life with me. Later that year, when he was leaving from spending the weekend at the dorm with me, he stopped his car in the middle of the parking lot, runs back to the dorm and asked me to marry him. I was 16 and dumb, but boy was I in love.

Anonymous said...

My wife.. The most wonderful human being on earth.. We met a work, I was in an extremely abusive relationship with two kids... She had no intentions of having kids a family or any of that, one evening when she wasn't felling so well as we were leaving work I kissed her, her reaction "I think I am going to puke" most would think that's not very romantic but every day after that she would stay late with me and I days that I worked but she didn't she would be there for lunch. She helped me out of the horrible situation I was in and I can not thank her enough for that. We have been together for 4 years now and couldn't possibly be any happier my best friend helped (donated his sperm, we are both woman so neither of us have that) us to havea third child and are a happy, healthy fun loving family. I love her with all of my heart and could not have asked for a better person to spend my life with. =0)

Anonymous said...

Seven years ago, I was just coming out of a long term relationship and wasn't really looking for anything serious. I had always told myself that I would never get married. In my life, I had seen too many relationships sour and dissolve in these hate filled divorces, and decided that it was not for me.

Then, I went on a blind date.

Toward the middle of the evening, we were at a gas station, and the clerk asked "How are you two tonight?" and J responded "We are great! Tonight is our 5th anniversary!" I laughed and though it was cute.

That date was July 23, 1999.
He proposed October 1, 1999.
We were married on April 29, 2000.

I love him more today than I ever have. He is my best friend and my soulmate.

*Jen*

Anonymous said...

We met on the internet. I met him at his house which was stupid, but I trusted him. We talked and talked and were listening to Judas Priest of all things. I was laying on the floor and he came over and laid next to me and kissed me at that moment. That was it. I've tried to leave him a few times...but I can't. I think of that moment and still get the quivvers.