My Eternal Valentine

            Many years ago, at the beginning of a new school year, a 13-year-old boy sat behind a 13-year-old girl in 8^th grade English class. Being a nice boy interested in a nice girl, there were lots of jokes and laughing before, after, and during class. Not much else to speak of except for recollections of “that’s when we met”. Freshman year art class came and went with collaborative projects and good times securing our place in “the friend zone”. Until one day, sophomore year, that boy asked another friend what she thought about his chances with that girl. She gave him just the confidence he needed to ask that girl to the next high school dance that just happened to be associated with Valentine’s Day. She readily accepted his invitation and that became “the beginning”. At the dance, they did their first slow-dance to Bryan Adams, “(Everything I do) I do it for you”, which became their song.

The excitement and energy of the following 12 months is simply immeasurable. To this day, they can both recall various moments that have been burned into their memories due to the lasting effects on their lives. I can attest that the aftermath of that time was considerably painful for her because like most first loves, it became history. Over the next year, they were able to reach a place where a friendship flourished. However, the elements of intimacy and the energy of love were always there; making it rather uncomfortable to spend too much time together. Under that strain, they inevitably moved on with their post-high school lives and registered each other as firmly rooted in “the past”. Although each will admit that they remained emotionally reminiscent every time they happened to hear that Bryan Adams song.

           

Fast forward 10 years through incredibly ugly times, not even worth mentioning in a Valentine’s post kind of times. That boy and that girl, forever changed by their circumstances, barely recognizable as their former selves, find each other again.

See!                               

I’m almost embarrassed to say that it all started again with a Google search. I’m sure plenty of long lost loves have similar stories that include a Facebook search but for us, it was Google. What I most noticed about him when we finally decided to see each other again was that he hadn’t changed a bit. He looked exactly the same to me and every emotion that had ever occurred in his presence came flooding back, making me literally sick to my stomach. I couldn’t finish my lunch entrée and I noticed that he didn’t eat much of his either. Less than a year later, we were married. Each of us vowing never to lose each other again. While grieving over the time lost. Each of us remorseful for our part in it.

Since our wonderfully small and intimate wedding, we’ve lived enough life to fill those ten gone years. Bought a house, renovated it, changed jobs, changed careers, became pregnant, moved into a new house, and had a baby. It’s been a whirlwind to say the least and I’ve been happy to do it all with him. It’s funny how I can still see that 13-year-old boy despite the years gone by and the heartache he has endured. He can still start my heart with a look and reduce me to childish glee with a few words. And it’s wonderful to see the kind-hearted, generous, sensitive, reliable, and loyal man that he has become. He says kind things to me, such as how I helped him become the man we all see today. But I know that I just saw him for who he is and maybe reminded him of what was real. I also thoroughly enjoy when he tells me that he still sees that young girl when he looks at me. The one that he felt compelled to protect and always wanted only good things to happen to her. So much so, that he thought she’d be better off without him.

I wasn’t.