Happy Birthday, My Love

I met my husband in the fall of 1994, when we were both students at Florida Atlantic University. I saw him before he saw me, and I remember turning to my friend asking "Who is that?" Let me just say --I was not a boy crazy girl. I was friends with a lot of guys, and had a boyfriend or two, but I did not swoon for any boy, but I did when I saw him and it scared me to death. I was sharp and brittle on the inside, but had mastered the appearance of someone soft and genial on the outside. When Steve smiled at me from across the quad, it felt like every inch of my facade was exposed. I wish I could say that I marched right up to him to introduce myself, but I didn't. However, my friend did and while she chatted him up, I slunk away like the coward I was. Later that evening she told me his name was Steve Myers and he'd just transferred from Palm Beach Community College. He was a junior, majoring in engineering. She told me what an idiot I was being, and how I should just talk to him. In my heart, I knew that talking to this boy would be the end of my hiding, and I doubted he'd want much to do with the broken girl he'd find.
The next day, I was rollerblading through the halls of Algonquin Hall, and literally ran right into him. God has a sick sense of humor. Unable to stop my momentum, I knocked him flat on his back and landed sprawled across the top of him. I admit, I laid there longer than I probably should have. From across the quad, he'd made my heart stutter. Up close, he made it stop all together. He was beautiful, with strawberry blonde hair and green eyes, and I wanted him to be mine. So much for hiding. I stood up and said "Hi, I'm Maggi," and he smiled when he said "I know." I swooned, dammit, and I'm pretty sure I blushed, too. That day is one of my favorite memories.
Steve became everything I knew he would-- the best friend I've ever had and the absolute love of my life. There isn't a single thing he doesn't know about me. While I once would have found that terrifying, it now brings me immeasurable peace. No matter what happens in life, or how far off course I stray, I have someone who knows me - heart and soul. Twenty years later, I'm so grateful for his gentle persistence. It's still a source of profound wonderment, that he thought I was worth the grief I put him through. I don't deserve it, but I'm so very grateful for his love.
Steve, you are the very best thing that ever happened to me. Everything, and everyone else pales in comparison.

You. Are. My. Heart.

Happy Birthday, My Love.

Christmas 1994

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