When a Hero comes along

Someone asked how I met Hero. Here it is in bite size morsels.

Episodes of the Hero Courtship:

(Scene 1) There she was, walking through the large wooden door. Shy smile, denim baseball hat, and the softest blond hair I ever saw.

(Scene 2 - Europe) I'm trying to get adolescents excited about the Olympics, and she stands up to lead a game. The quiet woman speaks. Hmmm, she's a good communicator, imagine that.

(Scene 3 - Africa) We're playing gin rummy after an afternoon of playing with kids at an elementary school. She wins, I win and we are having fun. We talk about the future. She sees herself making a difference in young people's lives. I'm totally digging her.

(Scene 4 - Southern California) I'm still in college but shes out. I've got a serious crush on her, I mean a frickin' make-you-sweat- hear-voices-in-your-head-heart-beat-racing-when-I-see-her sort of crush. But life keeps her at arms distance......oh, the pain.

(Scene 5 - Pacific Coast Highway) We're driving up the coast on our way to go camping with some friends. She smiles, we talk. We decide to become boyfriend-girlfriend. We hold hands, my heart beats like a race horse. Life is perfect.

(Scene 6 - the Pacific Coast, north of Malibu) 2 years later, we find ourselves alone on the beach. She baked a pie and brought a picnic lunch. She asks me if I would have the honor of asking her to marry me. I take out the guitar and sing her a song, we laugh and cry. I mistakenly go down on both knees and take out the ring and begin to propose. I open the box and she realizes that I am proposing, but was thrown off by the double knee action. She laughs and makes me start again. I get it right the second time and she says yes. We laugh and cry some more. Then get some stranger to take our picture.

We have almost been married a decade now, and it gets sweeter each year.