I managed a happy surprise text to Lisa today when I was the one who remembered our April 4th first date anniversary. This is written to the love of my life and mom of the mini-Lisa who inspire me to write every day:
It is hard to believe 26 years ago today I was all clammy handed waiting to meet you at the annual Spring Fling at the University of Arizona.
It took everything I had not to start making out with you when you flashed that smile. Something in the curve of your lips, the shape of your mouth, the electricity in your eyes, took my breath away.
Normally I would rehearse something I wanted to say, plot out topics to make sure there were no slow spots in the evening, but the energy between us filled up every moment when we weren’t talking.
It was the strangest sensation I had ever experienced.
I never felt that awkwardness that I had just said something that you thought was stupid, or that maybe you weren’t feeling the spark the way I was.
It was like we were in orbit around each other, and I could not get enough of your eyes.
As corny and cliched as it might sound I could see my future in those eyes.
All the fire and passion in everything you talked about, from your days as a little girl disco dancing in your basement, to the time you were snowed in for a week during the blizzard of ’77 in Buffalo. It was like we were catching up on our lives, and I knew that something was happening that day that would change my life forever.
And it has.
That date was the beginning of an incredible love story and adventure that has exceeded everything I imagined I would experience being loved by another person.
I look forward every day to a new page of a new chapter, to add to the volumes of memories and moments we have spent together, since that first date.
Happy First Date Anniversary, Lisa.