I knew that you were something special the very first time I saw you.
I knew that you were something special the very first time I saw you. I had been a real skeptic until then, but you made a real believer out of me. I was never really the lovey sappy type of person. I didn’t buy into the whole concept of fate or serendipity. But in that moment, when I met you for the first time, I knew that something was different. There was just something very distinct with how I was feeling. I started to get what I assumed to be butterflies in my stomach. I felt my heart starting to race abnormally. I felt a lump in my throat and my mind was running at a hundred miles an hour, and my mouth was unable to keep up with what my mind wanted me to say. It was this big eureka moment that I had, and I remember thinking to myself at the time: this what be what falling in love feels like. And as cheesy as it sounds, you really opened my eyes to a whole new world of emotions that I wasn’t familiar with. And it scared the heck out of me.
Fortunately, I lucked out. I didn’t fumble when I met you and I mustered the courage to ask you out. It was a disaster, but I managed to pull it off. I kept stuttering when I was talking to you and introducing myself. But I survived. Maybe you might have even found something cute and endearing about how nervous I was. Whatever the case, you saw something in me that was worth giving a chance and I am eternally grateful for that. And so we went out on our first date and I was a little more relaxed this time but I was still pretty nervous. I got to the restaurant early and I was seated at our table, rehearsing in my head the stuff that I would be using for our conversations. And then I saw you walk in the restaurant as you turned your head around to look for me. I thought that the novelty of meeting you for the first time would wear off but it didn’t. In fact, I think my feelings for you only grew stronger the second time around and I didn’t know what to do with myself. I looked at you as you swirled your head around the room trying to look for me. I stood up like an idiot as I waved my hand at your direction like an eager schoolkid trying to get the teacher’s attention. I saw you giggle a little bit when you saw me waving at you, and I don’t know if it’s because you thought I looked like a fool or if it was because the whole situation made you giddy. Whatever the case, your giggle ignited a different kind of flame with me, and that’s when I knew: I fell even more in love with you the second time around.
Fast forward to a few years later. I’m standing at the front of a church wearing the fanciest suit that I have ever worn in my life. I turn to see my parents and my best friend standing at my side, waiting in anticipation. The church is quiet but there is still a sense of anxiety and excitement in the air. Suddenly, the music from the organ starts blaring and everyone in the pews stands in unison. I turn to look at the back of the church to see as the church’s doors gradually start to open. Little by little, the light from the outside starts to trickle into the church, impeded only by the silhouette of a lady. I see the light emanate from you as if you were a shiny piece of gold. And when the doors close behind you, the dust starts to settle and everything seems to come into focus. You put your chin up as you stare down the aisle that you’re about to walk. You look as radiant as ever. And once again, I’m put in a position of awkwardness. I thought that I had already reached a ceiling of my love for you, but at this moment, it’s like I’m discovering a whole new universe of love; and all of the energy is directed to you. I fall in love with you even more as we make our commitments to one another. I fall even more in love with you as we share our first kiss as husband and wife.
And so we live out the rest of our days together. We have kids and we help raise them to become fine human beings. We grow old and we watch our little rascals move out of our home and we’re back to being just a couple again. But even at this moment, as I stare into your old and wrinkly eyes that have been weathered by age, I still find myself falling in love with you even more.