It’s a smooshy sort of day and I thought I’d get in on all the squishy feels by telling you a story. It’s my favorite love story, and as it happens, it’s my very own. Not that I’m partial at all. Okay, I lied. But believe me, you’re gonna want to hear this.
I didn’t fall in love in high school like my parents did. In fact, I thought myself quite unlovable for most of my growing up years. Thankfully, someone I knew back then, someone who had a choice, chose to love me, and all at once I learned that I wasn’t as broken as I believed. It wasn’t meant to be, of course, and we both walked away unharmed, and went off towards the lives we were destined to live. But I’ve always kept that first stamp of approval on my heart and over the years I’d look back on that sweet boys choice as proof of love’s possibility.
Fast forward a few awkward years and I found myself the convenient partner to a lost soul with a kind heart and pained eyes. I was all grown up this time and in charge of my own journey. It would’ve been simple for me to stay there with him, hanging by a root from a cliff over jagged rocks and angry waters, searching for a future he never believed in. I think I could’ve even made myself happy in that life, despite the many struggles and misunderstandings that come when a pair is poorly matched. Lord knows I felt like I belonged down there in those hopeless days with all my flaws and failings. But I didn’t stay. I chose to be alone and to start over because I didn’t feel seen. He used to think I was just naïve and that those lofty dreams I had were unfortunate leftovers of a sheltered childhood. I used to try to convince him I was worth marrying. Neither of us would ever convince the other, and in the end we went away to build our own separate lives.
And so it was, that I found myself alone and ragged in a new place looking for distraction and direction. I endured a brutal Valentine’s Day that year and I was so very close to nothingness. If you’re there today, my friend, don’t stop now. You’re worth what happens tomorrow, and I promise, the good feelings that follow that darkness run just as deep as the ones you carry now. This is not where your journey ends, Love, so don’t believe the voices that tell you otherwise.
I stumbled across a great new beginning while I was busy forgetting my lonely choice and burying my quiet pain. I lost myself in a hospital job, and although I didn’t know it at the time, I’d stumbled across an idea, that would later bloom into something more. But let’s get to the good part shall we?
Cue the tall dark and handsome stranger. Yes ma’am. That’s what I’m talking about. I saw him from across the radiology department, and I was cautiously intrigued, and silently twitterpated. I asked about him and as it turned out, he already knew who I was. I was “the one with the eyes”. I’m not sure that counts as a defining characteristic, because eyeballs are pretty standard issue, but that’s what he said. So obviously I hid from him. Wouldn’t you? I mean, how mortifying to have the entire department talking about how you like this guy you’ve never really met. It was middle school level embarrassing, and so I handled it with grace and maturity, and RAN AWAY! Luckily for me, that handsome stranger was thoroughly determined. With much effort, he cornered me in the film library, surrounded by stacks of x-rays and, *plot twist*, he straight up asked me out. Insert Home Alone face.
I bet you didn’t see that coming! I know I sure didn’t. I mean, an actual date? Like dinner and a movie and everything? That was something totally foreign to me. I’d had the flirty “hanging out”, and the more serious but still vague “talking” label, but never an honest to God date. But then again I’d never met a guy like him before. He knew exactly what he wanted, before we ever met, and he went after it with obstinate determination.
So we dated, and he sent me roses. He went with me to the beach, and he showed me around his home town. He was kind, and resolute, and determined to show me how much I meant to him. My heart swells when I think about it. He did all those things just so I would feel them. And I did. I felt every thoughtful kindness, way down in my soul. I saved petals from the flowers, and I still look at them from time to time when I need a good sniffle.
It’s getting late, so I’ll try to wrap this up, but don’t stop reading just yet because I haven’t quite gotten to the good part! I could go on for days about all the sweet things that man did for me, to win my heart, but for the sake of sparing you some sugary eye rolls, I’ll finish by telling you about the proposal.
My deliberately thoughtful man, has never done anything halfway IN HIS LIFE, and he stayed true to form on that cold windy New Years Day. He dragged me down to our favorite spot at the marina, and I do mean dragged. What?! I had no idea he had plans. I had plans too. Awesome napping plans. But he wasn’t having it, and so we ended up at the marina. I was minding my own business, taking in the ripples of light along the water, the cloudless vibrant blue above me, and the strong gentle soul beside me. At some point I noticed the sound of a small plane. I looked around to find the source of the happy noise, and that’s when it happened.
It was a plane. But wait…
There was a banner behind it.
I read the banner about a dozen times, frozen and shocked, and wanting to be really, really, REALLY sure about its message and its intended recipient.
Crystal, will you marry me?
It took me several seconds to register the tugging on my shirt sleeve and turn toward it. He was there, down on his knee, looking up at me with wide smiling eyes, and a ring.
Spoiler alert: I said yes. And I still mean it, with every squishy beat of my heart.
No matter how old I get, I’ll never forget that moment in my life, and how it felt to know that it’d been lovingly orchestrated and carefully planned. I’m not an afterthought, or a convenience, and I’ve never once had to convince him of my worth. I was a priority to him, from the very first day. And that, my friends is what true love feels like.
That’s only just the beginning of this epic love story of mine, but it’s where I’ll leave you today. I hope your Valentine’s day is full of chocolaty hearts, rose petals, and squishy feels!
Happily Honeymooning,
The Glittery Nurse
❤️❤️❤️❤️