Important day in my life

Twenty-six years ago today I managed to talk David into asking me out after he had beat around the bush about it for months prior. David had been my best friend for many months. I wasn't stupid or blind, I knew he liked me and wanted to get together with me. He was my friend. I loved him... but not in love with him. He was getting more and more frustrated and upset over the previous weeks and the thought of losing him and him not being in my life anymore was heart-wrenching to me. I came up with this wonderful plot, in my mind, I would go out with him and he would realize I was not all he imagined and break up with me and we could "go back to being best friends again." Yeah... stupid teenager. So we talked on the phone and I pushed him and pushed him until he finally asked me to be his girlfriend. I answered a gleeful "Yes" and was received by silence on the other end of the line. Seconds ticked by and finally I heard "I'm coming right over" and the receiver clicked.

It was an unusually warm and wonderful night out. It was clear and bright and the stars were shining. I sat out on the front porch in just a long sleeve shirt waiting for him to arrive. My oldest friend Tricia and her then boyfriend, Todd, just stopped by unannounced and we waited for David. His car drove by and then he turned and pulled in front of the house and strode toward me... his long lanky legs... and a smile as bright as the sun on his face. I introduced him to Tricia as my boyfriend and I thought his face would split down the middle from the way his smile radiated. He put his arm around me and I let him and he was in heaven. Tricia left after a while and David and I talked out on the front stoop enjoying the weather and when it came time for him to leave he kissed me goodnight... and yeah... it felt good... it felt right... it felt like coming home.

My brilliant idea obviously fell apart spectacularly. I fell madly in love with David. Head over heals. He was brilliant and beautiful and amazing. He made me feel safe for the first time in more years then I could remember. He wrote me love letters that reduced me to tears and mush. He put me on a pedestal and treated me like a princess. He knew who I was, completely, and he loved me anyway. He brought me into his family and, for the most part, they accepted me as a part of the family and loved me.

Our relationship was not without its bumps in the road, many of them, it was sweet and young and beautiful. We were sometimes too much alike with our hot tempers and our inability to back down even when it was in our best interest. We butted heads and we hurt each other sometimes... as is like to happen with young love. Still, we maneuvered through the bumps and the curves that life threw at us and we found a way to make things work. I wanted to marry him. I wanted to spend the rest of my life with him. It was something we had discussed. David in all his intelligence and life always said "I don't want to get married for a long time because I'm still young, but some day when I do want to get married I want it to be you." That was enough for me to hold on to. He told me he wanted me to eventually get into Tech and we could move in together. He told me he loved me and wanted only me.

Today, 26 years ago, was a beautiful start to something amazing. I miss him still. I think of him still. Today was difficult for me in some emotionally undefinable way. My heart feels open and layed bare. I miss him. My heart longs for him. My heart longs for what could have been and what he would have been to the world and his family.

Tonight I will find comfort in the arms of my husband that I love beyond all human reason. He will hold me close and touch me gently and soothe away the ache in my heart and that part of my heart that feels the emptiness of his absence. He will be a balm to my soul and my heart, like he has been for so many years. I love that man with every fiber of my being. Thank you God for My Man.