Love at First Sight
We now sat across from each other and Larry was staring down at his coffee stirring if constantly. We were talking but he did not seem to want to look at me. I found this puzzling until I realized he was in fact very shy! Chatting on line and talking on the phone had been easier for him. This was a quality that I found intriguing and very attractive. The fact that this good looking man actually found it difficult to be around women. This quiet gentle man was so much nicer than the macho men that I had been meeting.
We shared so much about each other that night, but the one thing that really stood out was when I told Larry that I worked as a picture framer and that I was also an artist. He then began to tell me about his late wife who had died of cancer and of the fact that she had decided to pick up canvases and supplies and attempted to paint. She had also applied for a job as a picture framer prior to falling ill. Some people would not see the apparent connection in this but we began to feel that we were being guided to each other. By the end of the evening he was much more relaxed and we enjoyed our time together. We made plans to meet again just a few days later.
That first date was June 17th 2004 and things moved very fast from then on. We were spending as much time together as possible even with the 2hour drive between us. Our conversations started to be filled with the possibilities of moving in together. Larry had met my girls and they had both taken an instant liking to him. Larry had two sons both of which were living at home so this was to be quite an undertaking. Eventually we listed both of our small homes and set about finding a house for all of us to share.
We were married at our new home, exactly one year to the day of our first date, on June 17th 2005. It was a ceremony filled with laughter as our minister had gifted us with an unforgettable marriage ceremony. We were hand fasted as in tying the knot with wonderful playful expressions of humor throughout. The dialogue included honoring the four directions and funny quips during the vows such as “Larry, will you cause Debra pain?” with a reply of “I may” then he would ask is that your intent?” with the reply of “no.” As each question was asked he draped a cord across our hands. His next questions were, will you share laughter, will you burden, will you share your dreams, will you anger? At each of these with the “I may or I might” came a chorus of laughter from all who attended as they could see the teasing looks we were giving each other. At the end of the vows the cords were tied together in a very literal knot, it was an amazing day.
