My Valentine

Happy Valentine’s Day to my one true love, Tom.

I first met Tom at a young single adult activity, he had just returned from his mission a few days earlier. I was informed, I can’t remember if by him or someone else, that he had a girlfriend in Flagstaff that had waited for him. It seemed like a sealed deal that he was taken and practically engaged. So of course my guard was completely let down.

Thus I found it rather shocking when one of the first few times I hung out with him and another friend, we were squished in the front of a pickup truck going somewhere, and he nonchalantly placed his hand on my thigh. Hello! Fireworks erupted and I was very surprised. But then he realized what he’d done and jerked it away as though I had leprosy. I had to remind myself, yeah, he’s taken.

Not very surprising, he was broken up with his girlfriend by the end of the month and started coming over to the house more regularly “to bug me”, is how he put it.

I didn’t mind.

One day while hanging out, Aleta (a family friend), called and had two theatre tickets to a production downtown that nobody was using. So Tom and I decided to go. It didn’t seem like a first date, especially since he didn’t ask me out, it was more like two friends consenting to hang out without the group.

Well he drove us out to Phoenix, and we saw the play, I can’t even remember what it is that we watched, it didn’t matter, I realized I really liked him.
After the play we walked around for awhile and then stopped to hang out and talk.

Except we didn’t talk, we just stood there.

I casually watched people walk by, and Tom casually watched me. I couldn’t take it anymore; I finally turned to him and asked, “What?” He just smiled at me and replied, “Just looking”.

Yeah, he melted my heart right there and I haven’t looked back since. Two months of dating and we were engaged; three months later we were married. It was a whirlwind, but once I realized I had found a man that treated me different than I’d ever been treated before, who had so much respect and love and loyalty for me, I never wanted anything different.
Seven and a half years later and I’m still so happy with my Tom. Each day I realize how much he means to me, the little things he does for, the emotional support he gives to me, and the fact that he’s the only person out there that can calm my inner demons.
I love him!