@dellhell8842

3 years ago

My first love: I was 21, she was 20. I was in my penultimate year in college. She was in her first year of seven in college. I saw this tall brunette in a crowd exiting a building. My heart missed a beat as I stared. I was not in her line of sight, yet she sensed my presence and briefly turned and glanced at me with a concealed smile. I knew instantly that somehow I would spend my life with her. (This is a long story, so if you're easily bored, leave now). Some weeks later, I saw her walking on a path parallel to mine near the college campus. I crossed over so that we had to pass each other. I smiled, she smiled back. This happened several times as her accommodation was close to mine. In the evenings I would search the floors of the college library. Then one evening I found her. I sat in a nearby cubicle, not having the courage to approach her. I saw her several times subsequently in the library. Each time she was totally focused on her study materials, but she would nod and acknowledge my presence as I pretended to casually whizz by. One evening, close to the end of the college year, I decided to overcome my shyness and seize the moment. The library was nearly empty, and she was alone at a large table for four. I pretended to be on my way out, then suddenly see her and swing by. I sat at the empty space at her table, my heart pounding. Her face turned multiple colours. I introduced myself. She did the same. We talked for 30 minutes or so about our families and college. We had much in common. Then, the college year ended. The next college year was my last. I saw her again in the library from time to time and we talked. Our total focus was our studies. We were both from humble backgrounds and a lot of sacrifices were being made to put us through college. Exam failure was not an option. We did not have the money, time or indeed the energy to date. As that year ended, I was finished college but she had five more years to do. A relationship was out of the question for her. I started work. Over the next five years, I had several girls in what we would now call the friend zone, but none who were special to me. I dated a few other girls, but my heart did not seem to be in it. It is only now, many years later, that I realise I was subconsciously running down the five year clock until her college was finished. I was never in contact with her. This was the '80s. There were no cell phones, there was no Internet. At the end of her final college year, I drove to the college in my newly acquired car and searched for her. No luck. I knew the tiny town of a few hundred she was from so I drove there, made some inquiries and also drew a blank. Finally, as she had an unusual surname, I decided to search the local telephone directry. There were five entries with that name. I called the one I thought was the best match. It was her cousins who gave me her family address. Heart racing and hands shaking, I called her number. Her late mother answered; she saw through my cover story and could tell I was a suitor. She giggled as she uncovered my true objective, told me her daughter was now working as an intern in the nearby city, and she promised to pass on my telephone number. A few days later, I got a call at work. It was my tall brunette from college asking how I was. I knew from the tone of her voice that my life was about to change forever. We talked for three hours straight. I asked her for a date for the following weekend. That weekend, I drove to her city, a little nervous and very excited; it was the best journey of my life. When I picked her up, she was wearing a floral patterned dress in turquoise green and maroon. She looked and acted exactly as I remembered her five years earlier. I noticed she was tense in our car ride to the restaurant I had booked. She was very nervous at dinner and hardly ate. Before I returned home, she asked me in for coffee. There, she stood over me in her little kitchen, as I sat and drank her coffee. She relaxed, standing and talking for four hours until I had to plead to drive home. As I left, I reached out to shake her hand. She pulled me in and kissed me. She had taken control of our relationship and has not relinquished it since. We married two years later and will be 30 years married next summer. We have two adult children. She told me years later the reason she was so nervous on our first date. She was shocked at how much I had matured physically and in self confidence from when she knew me in college. She feared I had outgrown her. She still has the turquoise green and maroon dress in her wardrobe and occasionally wears it. I love her more than ever and more than she will ever know. She went to bed two hours ago and will be wondering what the hell is keeping me awake.

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