Our Love Story

No matter many times I rode the ups and downs of the rollercoaster of love, I carried out hope of finding “the one”. There were times where I denied believing in it, simply because I would use my logic vs. emotional side of my brain, but that did not mean the thought was not still in there. Statistically, the odds seem against the idea of a soulmate – with people spread out all over the planet, speaking many different languages, how is it possible to be lucky enough to the one out of billions that will just click with you in every way? Now, with my experience, I can only ration that it really must be fate.

How We Met

The story, for me at least, began a few months before we even met. Shortly after moving into a new apartment, I occasionally saw this really cute guy driving a similar vehicle to mine, which earned him the nickname of the “white Taco guy” in my head. Typically, we would either pass each other in the parking lot or on the road nearby our complex. One Wednesday evening, I saw him as I had just pulled into a parking spot, and he was walking by, taking something out to the trash. I really beat myself up over the fact that I wanted to get out of my truck and say hello, but was too nervous, which became the inspiration for my “Neighbors” poem.

Then came that partly overcast, moonlit Friday night. I was supposed to go out with someone, but had not heard from them yet. So I took my camera outside and started taking photos of the moon, with the hopes that maybe he would come home. Sure enough, he did. I was not sure sure for awhile that anything would happen – I was in my truck bed, and he was across the parking lot, at first cleaning out his cab, then seating himself at a picnic table. Then, he got up and went for a walk. Not going in the direction he lived in, but not in my direction either. We had exchanged glances a few times, and that was really about all the invite I needed, as my determination level at this point was pretty high.

Since I knew he would be passing the table again before going to his place, I re-located myself there and continued my picture-taking, although the angle was really bad. Sure enough, he came back around, and sat down at the table across from me with his mail and a soda, and we started talking. It turned out his apartment was right on the opposite side, to which my first thought was crap, he probably heard me singing in the shower. We also had some interesting things in common – he had two cats, for starters, and after a rash of meeting people who were allergic to cats, this automatically signaled winner in my mind. He was also a dance instructor. This was ironic to me because I had been in the Dancing with the Stars kick and dying to learn ballroom dancing. Low and behold, a professional was right on the opposite side of me. Before we went to our respective apartments, he mentioned that he was going to be home the next evening, and if I wanted to ever stop by, I was welcome to. Very casually, but good enough for me.

Our First Date

So that’s what I did. The next evening, I dressed up semi casually but nicely. Nervously, I dilly-dallied, imagining walking up and knocking on his door. What we would say, where would we go, what would we do. Then I just walked outside, around the corner, and there he was, sitting at that table again. We walked around the complex, through the tennis court, and talked. Then we took a ride in his truck, down to Fountain Hills Park, and spent hours just talking, joking, getting to know each other and finding out we had a lot in common. This evening was the inspiration for “Moonlight“, and the start of a beautiful relationship.

It’s Love

Things between us never seemed to slow or too fast. We progressed from evenings where we would just talk for a bit outside after he came home from work, to our first kiss, to a night where we fell asleep together on the sofa but he did not stay, the night I wrote “Daze” because I realized that wow, I have the “this is the one” feeling. Then, just a couple of days later, confirmation that I was not the only one who felt it – it was late morning, we were sitting in his office, and he said he loved me. After I introduced him to my purest of joyful reactions (first a squeak, then giggling and saying I loved him too), we went to my apartment, where I let him read the poem “Candlelight” that I wrote a couple of nights back when I knew how much I wanted to hear him say those words, and played him a song that matched my readiness for finding him:

“Ready for Love”

I am ready for love
Why are you hiding from me
I’d quickly give my freedom
To be held in your captivity

I am ready for love
All of the joy and the pain
And all the time that it takes
Just to stay in your good grace
Lately I’ve been thinking
Maybe you’re not ready for me
Maybe you think I need to learn maturity
They say watch what you ask for
Cause you might receive
But if you ask me tomorrow
I’ll say the same thing

I am ready for love
Would you please lend me your ear?
I promise I won’t complain
I just need you to acknowledge I am here

If you give me half a chance
I’ll prove this to you
I will be patient, kind, faithful and true
To a man who loves music
A man who loves art
Respect’s the spirit world
And thinks with his heart

I am ready for love
If you’ll take me in your hands
I will learn what you teach
And do the best that I can

I am ready for love
Here with an offering of
My voice
My Eyes
My soul
My mind

Tell me what is enough
To prove I am ready for love

I am ready.

From this day, I was infinitely blissful. We were in love. Even though it had been such a short time – just eleven days, it did not feel wrong at all.   It was like a fairytale come true.

Previous Post: True Love