I'm rerunning this post from last year simply because I want to honor my wife on her birthday, and I really don't think I can top this. Hope you enjoy it!
A stippling of sunlight filtered down through the towering
redwoods, their pungent scent saturating the intimate campus confines as
a warm breeze stirred what was left of my recently shorn locks that
early September morn. Seems my new college had a dress code, and long
hair was forbidden...as was most everything else commonly enjoyed by
those of my generation.
But, that’s another story.
I
was already late for class—a reality that would, sadly haunt me
throughout my collegiate career. College for me was, well, an
interruption. I had things to do if I was going to achieve my goal of
being a famous recording artist. And I wasn’t about to let something as
trivial as education stand in the way of that!
With
a student population of only seven hundred, I had already met many of
my new classmates through the orientation process and waved or called
out friendly greetings as I jogged past the student center. It seemed
only proper to demonstrate a modicum of concern regarding my tardiness
even though it was pure pretense.
Nearing
the library, located just across from the administration building—which
also housed the women’s dorm in its upper floors—my forward motion was
suddenly arrested by a sight I will never forget. The term, “came to a
screeching halt,” overused and hackneyed as it is, is the only way to
truly describe what happened to me. For there, not ten feet away, stood
the most beautiful creature my poor, tired eyes had ever seen.
Shoulder-length
blonde hair; eyes of cerulean blue set above high cheekbones and made
even more stunning by the golden tan dusting her face—a smile that
seemed to light up everything around her. I might as well confess that
with one glance all thoughts of attending class were waylaid, for I was,
in a word...smitten!
I
realized, to my horror that I had been staring, my face taking on an
expression that fell somewhere in between deranged lunatic and
simpleton. This alarming fact was brought to my attention by my brutally
honest roommate who had the occasion to be passing by just at that
moment—being, as a general rule even more tardy than I—thus, witnessing
the entire incident.
Thanking
my helpful, if tactless, friend I composed myself and...stood rooted in
place! Paralyzed! Immobilized! In the grip of stunned stupefaction! In
the meantime, this vision of loveliness was walking away. In the
direction of...my class. Could that be?
I
finally managed to regain forward mobility and proceeded to stalk her
across the campus realizing in the process that she was, indeed, heading
directly toward the arts and sciences building which my first period
“introduction to philosophy” classroom.
I
decided to close the gap so as not to lose sight of her once inside
just in case it was not my class that was her final destination. When I
say, “close the gap,” I’m talking about sprinting thirty yards to take
up a position that was within arm’s reach of her quite lovely back.
I never said I was subtle!
Trailing
her into the classroom, I mumbled greetings to a couple of students I
knew, stopped by the professor’s desk and found my name on the seating
chart, sensing myself nearing cardiac arrest as I realized that we were,
as fate would have it, paired at the same table.
Given
the perspective afforded by hindsight, I now recall the incident with a
mixture of embarrassment and profound sense of awe at my good fortune. I
mean, there I was seated right next to the prettiest girl in school.
And I didn’t do anything to bring it about.
I was just on my way...to class? Certainly. But in a larger sense, I was on my way
to the rest of my life when gracious providence beautifully, blissfully
interrupted my progress, knowing that life, as planned, would be
incomplete.
That
pretty girl became my wife, and we have had many, many adventures over
these long years. Her smile can still stop me in my tracks, cause my
heart to flutter and render me speechless...no small feat, as my
children and close friends will readily attest.
Happy
Birthday, baby...my beloved, my bride, my lovely one; owner of my
heart; sweetener of my days; wellspring of my joy...I love you today.
