She was seven years old and already stressing out about the wrong things in life. He was eight years old and very good at being that age. Being eight years old meant long days full of never-ending fun adventures for him. Stressing out at seven years old meant every detail of life brought some measure of difficulty to her. She saw him, he saw her and life continued for the next decade and a half.
She rang the doorbell, knowing someone had to be home. After all, She had just left her brother and nephews at the restaurant, and seeing how she drove like a grandma and her brother didn't, there was no way she had beat him to his house. So there she stood, ringing the doorbell over and over, just like a good little sister. Much to her horror, instead of her brother or nephews being on the other side of the door, it was a ghost from her past. A very handsome and grown up ghost from her past.
In an instant she knew there was something different about him. Sure, she knew of him...remembering him from elementary school, junior high school, and high school, but did he recognize her? A better question, what made this human being different from every other from her past, or present for that matter? She couldn't keep her eyes off of him. She followed his every move, listened to every syllable, determined to figure out why this person glowed. Of course, she knew it was just her who thought he glowed in some sot of life-altering significance. The more time that passed, though, the more she felt like she held some sort of significance for him, too. She knew he smiled bigger just for her. She knew he stared lovingly at her, especially when she wasn't looking. She knew he felt the same way...and so they kissed and both knew it was so much more than a kiss.
That's it, really. After that afternoon there wasn't a day she didn't speak with him or even an hour during the day that she didn't think of him. About a week later, he professed his love for her and she responded with a, "I think I love you, too." For a girl who had been bitterly burned by what she had thought was love in the past, this phrase, this feeling was a milestone in her own mental growth. After six months of dating, on bended knee and at her favorite restaurant, he proposed to her. She said yes, and a year later, almost to the day, they became wife and husband.
That's not really where their love story ended, though. Throughout decades of marriage they fell in love with each other over and over almost every day. Was their marriage always like this? Heck no! Their first ten years of marriage was laden with land mines. A few of those land mines exploded and in an instant, their love story almost ended. There came a time in both of their lives when they had to choose, it sounds epic; do they stay or do they leave? Their relationship was just sad, truly sad. They both realized that there was no other love as strong as the love that they had for each other in the world, but was it too late? There was damage done. To mend their love meant that they had to put their egos aside and piece together faith in God and each other. Over time, trust had to be built from a bottomed-out basement. Life was a struggle, at best, for them as a couple and just in general. Just waking up in the morning and getting the day started could prove to be too much for either one of them. They did it, though. One day at a time...with each passing day their love grew stronger. Not every day was stronger than the last. The old adage, "two steps forward, one step back" haunted those rebuilding months.
There came a day when their life together finally held more laughter than tears. All of those difficult and frustrating conversations melted away and what was left was the beauty of the love that had hit each of them that first day when she incessantly rang the doorbell and he answered it. The next decade they spent falling in love with each other over and over. Some days it was by choice, some days they just couldn't help it. Her extremely bad short term memory caused him to smile so big he had to laugh. His continual want to make sure every wish of hers was mentally recorded, and if possible acted upon, made her feel like the luckiest person alive.
Wait, that's the end, you ask? But there are two pictures...which couple is this love story about??
I hesitate in answering that question because without the one love story, mine would never exist. Both because the couple in the black and white picture are my grandparents, who loved each other immensely (and let's face it, without them I wouldn't even be here), and because they taught me what true love really is and isn't. True love doesn't mean a perfect relationship. True love means the relationship is worth fighting for, even if that fight goes on for months or years. Even if two steps forward means one step back.
I love love stories. Even when Valentine's Day was brutally painful for me, I was still a sucker for any love story. I think I love the fact that there are no two love stories that are exactly the same. Some love stories are short, some last a lifetime. Some people have multiple love stories and each holds a special place in their heart. Some love stories have a happy ending, but many end in hurt or loneliness. Many people strive for the ending in the movie, "The Notebook," but very few can have that.
What's your favorite love story?
This is my favorite love story. But then again, I have been lucky enough to be part of this love story. I am excited to see where our story goes and read the stories you have inside you as you share them here.
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