PS I love You

I was convinced I am not a romantic person until I met my partner.

And I’ll tell you why.

I was a bit of a tomboy, growing up. Blame my Uncles for making me believe I could accomplish anything! I chose a male-dominated career when I started mine and most of my male friends tended to think that I was too “one of the boys”.

One even went so far as to say that I am not good “girlfriend material” because I was more confident than I ought to be. I had this bad habit of seeing “solution” when I heard or saw the word “problem”. What’s wrong with that you ask? I gave the guy a complex changing our flat tire when out on a date.

Nevertheless, I’ve been very lucky in friendship – and since we are talking about romantic love, even connections that seemingly got off on a rocky start became strong friendships! It always takes two, you know. Or three.

Even my first ever real date -thoughtfully orchestrated by my best friend looked like a disaster but turned into a rather nice friendship subsequently when we let go of the pressure to get involved. Okay, I confess I just ate the lovely red rose he gifted me. What to do? He kept me waiting in the car while he sprinted across the road to pick up an ice cream. (vanilla flavor). And I love roses.

Yes, I was not easy to pair off.

So anyway, Life went on. I had amazing friends, both male and female. I say amazing, because I still have these people in my life, in my heart.

“All that is very well. But what about your life partner, Vidya?” asked my Mom, constantly.

“Oh, I don’t think I want to get married”, I’d say.

“But you love children. And life is wonderful when you live with someone you love” she said.

“Ah. I could always adopt right?” I’d say.

“Not quite the same as being a full family” she’d say, with a tinge of sadness.

Then I’d hug her, because I knew I would never win this argument with her, and tell her that what was meant to happen would happen when it was meant to happen. She’d hug me back and say “Sooner the better”

When I turned 33, my family’s tension meter was high. I was cool – I had a great job, I was doing very well career-wise and my best friend was on my side. It was easier to face the pressure together from our folks.

And then it happened

My best friend got engaged. I was thrilled, little knowing what it meant for me. Now my Mom had a solid ally to bully me into finding someone pronto.

They gave every male I knew the eye. Of course it was embarrassing. I wasn’t romantically inclined even remotely towards any of them.

Then they got the brilliant idea of going through the matrimonial columns in the Sunday newspaper.

Nothing worked.

Months passed.

Mom had to travel. She made my friend promise that in her absence we’d continue the good work.

Sunday arrived. So did the newspaper.

Armed with our coffee, we decided to have fun looking at the ads.

When we were about to heave a sigh (me, of relief and she, exasperation), an ad caught my eye.

Very un-matrimonialish.

I thought, why not write?

I did. In my style. And attached a photo of me with my friend’s dog.

Believe it or not, I got a cute reply.

I decided to meet the guy when I visited his town the next month – I had a sales conference and was traveling via his city.

We met and had a wonderful day.

We promised to keep in touch.

We wrote to each other. Snail mail days you know. Me, I’d write parcel-like letters while he would be brief. We talked on the phone, too.

We took our time to decide.

On my birthday in the end of September, he proposed.

I accepted.

And he was off overseas for three months from October.

My folks were sure I was pulling a fast one on them to buy time.

So wolf, wolf, eh?

Anyway, he was due to return in Jan the next year.

My folks froze when I quit my job. I knew I was going to another city anyway and thought it would do me good to take a couple of months off before returning to work.

He came home and met my Mom.

Turned out our families knew each other – one more proof that it is a small world.

We got married on Feb 9 (I know, right?).

Did I mention we actually connected in Feb the previous year? On the ninth.

We are living almost happily ever after.

Good things come to those who wait.

We’ll be celebrating our 19th anniversary next Tuesday.

That’s my love story.

What’s yours?

This is a blog hop to celebrate love: lost, or found, or—both? Whether in short fiction, or a brief essay, or poetry, or even via a song, tell us a love story. Whether it’s of loss or a happily-ever-after is up to you—as is the genre. Sci-fi, thriller, comedy, memoir—it’s all good. “Love” is, after all, so much more than just “romance”. On Monday February 1st, it’s all about love, in all its forms. The only limit is your creativity.

This is my post for The Lost & Found: Valentine’s Edition blog hop hosted by Guilie Castillo-Oriard and Arlee Bird, and these two have enlisted fabulous help from co-hosts Denise Covey,Yolanda Renee, Elizabeth Seckman, and the Ninja Captain himself,Alex Cavanaugh.