I’m taking a one week break from “Stories That Peg has Never Heard”

Do you believe in “Love at First Sight”?  I never did.  I always thought that love was something you built over time.  I think most people probably mistake “lust at first sight” for “love at first sight” although that initial physical attraction, given the opportunity, can grow into something deeper.

When I was in high school the bus would drop us off at the cafeteria entrance and they wouldn’t open the gates into the rest of the school until the all students had arrived.  It meant that those who were on the earliest buses had to sit around for over 30 minutes anywhere there was space.  My friends and I, the non-cool kids, would usually sit around one of the windows next to the gates.  We had no girls in our little group, mainly because we were terrified of them and no idea how to approach a pretty one, so we would pass the time “rating’ them as they walked by.  We would probably be suspended nowadays as sexists or misogynists but we were just the geeks who could only dream of actually asking a girl out.  Well, on the first day of my junior year, I found myself with the same guys sitting in the same place ready to grade, on the standard 1 to 10 scale, the fresh crop of sophomores.  Not much to look at until a flash of red caught my eye.  Long straight red hair to the middle of her back and long legs that went……well, you get the picture.  It was the early 70’s and hair was long and skirts were short!

I immediately threw up a 9.8, only Farrah Fawcett  rated a ten back then, and the guys knew I was smitten.  It took me over a year to finally ask her out and that was after she had already become a part of my close circle of friends and family and had dated two of my best friends.  I really had no idea how to talk to girls.  I might be a lot of things but a ladies’ man is not one of them!  Which is a good thing since we’ve been married for almost 34 years, engaged for the 3 years before that and “going steady” for  3 years before that. (I don’t think anyone says “going steady” anymore.  I think it’s called being “exclusive”!)  So what’s the point?  There was an immediate attraction, at least on my part, but real feelings grew over time as we got to know each other.  A life time commitment to one another grew over time.  “Love at first sight”, a myth.  At least I thought it was until 4 months ago.

It’s time for a confession.  I’m sorry Peg, I’ve been keeping this from you.  I’ve met someone.  I’ve been sneaking around behind your back.  When you go to work on Fridays I slip out on my Vespa to see her.  When I’m out running errands, it’s usually just an excuse to see her.   I didn’t mean for this to happen, but it did.  The first time I gazed into her beautiful blue eyes my heart melted.  I knew in an instant that there was nothing I wouldn’t  do for her.  When she’s asleep in my arms time stands still and I wish it could go on forever.  If being with her is a glimpse behind the curtain to heaven then I will die a happy man.  How can one person bring so much joy?

Her hair’s not long and red, it’s short and brown.  Her legs aren’t long and thin, they’re short and a bit pudgy.  She doesn’t talk much, I do most of it.  She just smiles and coos and makes me happy beyond description.  She gets angry, but I never do.  She cries and it makes me laugh.  And I let her win all of the arguments because, for now, she’s never wrong.

Don’t worry Peg, there’s room in my heart for both of you and I realize I do know how to talk to girls.  At least the ones that weigh 15 pounds.