The Feeling

Ten years ago today, I went on my first date with my husband. Nine years ago today, he proposed to me. It's a day we always acknowledge and sometimes celebrate, but we've done a lot of talking about this one. To commemorate the occasion, we're going to purchase a special Precious Moment (his first gift to me). We are going to dinner - it's for a work event, but still, it's free, at the country club and we get to dress up and have a few hours sans kids. But the gifts and dinner don't matter as much as the fact that after all these years, we still have the feeling.

"The feeling" was the name of the poem that started it all. Here's the story: we worked together at a movie theater (remember we were in high school). I was the box office manager, he was the assistant manager. Every Thursday night, new movies would get "built up" for their start on Friday and employees would stay after hours to preview them to make sure there were no scratches, etc. This one Thursday night, it was "Air Force One." He and I managed to end up sitting next to each other - just the two of us - with other employees spread all over the theater. Just sitting next to each other was enough to make our hearts beat faster. I remember leaning over and laying my head on his shoulder. We had never acknowledged anything more than friendship to each other before that.

A few days later when we worked together again, I noticed him carrying around this notebook. Eventually my curiousity got me and I asked what was in there. So he handed it to me and it was a book of poems he'd written. I read each of them, marvelling in how wonderful a writer he was. One of them, towards the back was titled "The Feeling." It was amazing. I asked who had inspired that very emotional, passionate poem. He took the book out of my hands, said "You did" and walked out of the building. I had to have turned every shade of red. My co-workers were stunned. After not sleeping much, I came back the next day (August 8) and snuck upstairs where he was working. As I approached him, he smiled and just said "Hey." That was it, I was his.

That night, we went out to eat and went to see "Picture Perfect" on our first date. We were inseperable after that, difficult considering I was leaving for college in 2 weeks. But we made it though, and one year later he proposed on one knee with a beautiful ring and a poem to mark the occasion.

I still sometimes get poems, and once in a while we go see a movie. "Air Force One" and "Picture Perfect" are part of our movie collection. But The Feeling is still very much alive and well. I can't imagine being anywhere other than with my wonderful husband. Ten years and two beautiful children later, he's still the amazing man who captures my heart everyday.

Somehow I think the feeling will never end.