Falling in Love - Part V

Last month, I blogged about Stephanie Nielson’s new book Heaven is Here.  Reading it was emotional and I cried sad, happy and spiritual tears.  Please read this book.

I also finished Ree Drummond’s book The Pioneer Woman and am giddy with her incredible sense of humor.  This book is so good.

Heaven is Here is about a young mother who survives a plane crash,  burned on over 80% of her body and her struggles to heal while The Pioneer Woman is about a city girl looking to jump start her career, only to find love in the arms of a rancher.  Very different books, very different ideas, but there is something similar in these stories (other then the fact that they are both famous bloggers turned New York Times Bestselling authors);

it is romance.

Yes, both Stephanie and Ree are great story tellers of how they meet their one true love.  Both romances are dreamy and earth-shattering and unforgettable.

I wanted to write my own love story of how I meet my husband with moving metaphors and vivid imagery.  My husband has become the hero in these write-ups and through each memory, I've been able to fall in love with him all over again.  This is Part V.  To read the first four blog entries, click here, here, here and here.

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I had agreed to go on another date with tall shy guy and I wasn’t sure what to think.  I was still wrapped up in the idea that I usually dated a much different type of guy.  Was this really going to work?  I sat on the bathroom counter in my apartment and applied my make-up.  I was calm, not nervous like I was before dates I’d been on with other guys.  I felt grown up and in control of my life for the first time in a long time.  There was a knock at the door, which I had left open and I quickly put my earrings on.  When I walked into the family room, he was there, standing in the middle of the room with a smile on his face and flowers in his hand.  I stopped, taken back by the handsome man standing in front of me.  How tall was he?  He looked so tall.  How was it that I hadn’t notice he was much, much taller then most men?  He turned to me when I caught a glimpse of his shoulders.  Were they really that large, that defined?  Wow!  Those were some impressive shoulders, strong and capable of holding up the world.  He walked toward me and I was taken back by his eyes.  They were so bright and the color of the ocean; in some places blue, in others green.  His eyes were gorgeous.  It took a bit out of me just to say “Hello”.

One of our first photos taken together.

Tall shy guy had everything planned for our date, right down to the red handkerchief he tied around my eyes.  “Trust me,” he said as he held my hand and walked me to his car.  We drove for a while, him keeping secret about where we were going.  We arrived and he took me into a building, a farmer’s market I later found out.  Blindfolded, he had me smell fruit, touch the textures of different vegetables, leafy and spiky, and use my senses to guess what he was holding.  When I lost patience and finally ripped the handkerchief off, we both agreed we should buy every type of fruit and vegetable in the entire market.  Artichoke, squash, raspberries, exotic bananas, mango, okra; you name it, it came home with us. We cooked it and ate it, but the best part of the evening was how much I enjoyed talking to him.  He was funny, reserved, sincere and really, really smart.  So what if I didn’t cook the artichoke long enough and it was a bit raw when I bit into the yellow heart; it was still the perfect evening.

We were together every night for the entire week, eating out, taking long walks, and meeting at the library at ASU while I finished up my research on environmental sociology or rhetorical studies.  Tall shy guy was turning into someone I really liked having around.  Still, I kept my feelings deep inside, knowing all to well the feeling of going home with a broken heart.

The next Sunday, tall shy guy spoke in church, bearing his testimony about his love for Jesus and the blessings in his life.  I sat in the front row with my hands folded in my lap playing with my purse strap.  Isn’t it funny how love catches us by surprise?  At the time, I wondered if he would hold my hand again or if any other girls in the congregation liked him.  I felt a bit insecure.  What was he?  A friend?  Something more?  Surely, real love couldn’t be happening to me.  I mean really, he was just this guy who I met in the back of a car.  After his talk, he came and sat by me.  He took my hand in his and held it sweetly while my heart swooned. After church, the congregation gathered for ‘meet and greet’ pot luck.  Tall shy guy had made a pecan chocolate pie.  Yes, he cooked too.

After church, he offered to drive me home.  It was a beautiful Sunday evening in April with the weather still comfortable.  We walked into my apartment and I offered to make us a vegetable tray.  I took some celery and carrots out of the refrigerator and started chopping.  Tall shy guy walked into the kitchen to help when some thing came over me, like a magnetic pull I couldn’t control.  This man; so sweet, so gentle was also so gorgeous and standing right next to me!  He was so tall and had these long legs that went on and on and his shoulders kept screaming at me to look at his muscles and don’t get me started on his eyes.  He had once asked to kiss me and I had said "No" because I didn't want to kiss him until I knew I could love him.  It was time to say "Yes."  I turned and just about tackled him into the kitchen pantry.  I literally ran into him, on purpose mind you, because I couldn’t stay away from him any longer.  It took about one second for my lips to find his and I didn’t let go for a long time.  I distinctly remember a poem going through my mind the first moment we kissed, something like “his kiss is sweeter then wine.”  Yes, tall shy guy’s kiss was like the purest, loveliest tasting wine (funny thing is I’d never had a drink of wine) I’d never had.  The carrots and celery went untouched and we kissed.

And we kissed.

We stood in the kitchen, me a bit wobbly, and kissed.

We sat on the couch and kissed.

We went on a walk around the neighborhood and kissed, me standing on the curb to get a bit more height so I could meet his sweet lips way, way up there.

I walked him to his car to say goodbye.  He never even unlocked the car door because we were kissing.

He walked me back to my apartment door, which I never opened because we kept kissing.

At around midnight, we decided to stand in the middle of the walkway, convincing ourselves we could be rational as we said goodnight and parted ways. Face to face, on last kiss and we would walk backwards, staring at each other mind you, taking steps away from one another, small baby steps, him to his car and me to my apartment door as to not miss a single moment of seeing each other while we said goodbye.  Me reaching out to him, one last touch of his hand, he letting his fingers run through my hair, another step away from each other and it was torture that we couldn't touch each other.  He was a vision, he was my perfect match and I had to live the night without him. We just about said goodbye, when he ran back to me and took me in his arms again.  I placed my hands on his shoulders and finally got a feel of those strong muscles.  Yep, just as I suspected, they were pretty impressive.  We kissed in the middle of that walkway while the full moon shone above us.  I’m not sure how we ever pulled our lips apart that night.

No doubt there was some physical attraction going on.