Tell something romantic that you have done or experienced......

[Wetzelbill]

Ok, a little background.

I knew my first girlfriend and I would be a couple at some point the moment I saw her. It was at an AAU wrestling tournament and she got to see me wrestle in my first state title match. I remember all weekend we kept making eye contact and I would catch her staring at me smiling while I'd be cracking a joke in front of a group of people or something.

The thing is though, I'm pretty eccentric. Chasing after women has never been a priority for me, not the way it is for a lot of guys. I, since the age of 15 or so, was a serious athlete. At the time, I met her I was the number one ranked bull rider in the state and one of the top 2 or 3 wrestlers in my weight in the state too. I was more concerned with competing really. However, she totally won me over. We became fast friends, whether it was in class -we had one together - or during wrestling season -she was a team manager. Many trips we sat together the whole time and visited or she sat next to me while I told jokes and stories with everybody etc. I used to have a good luck Mickey Mouse pillow - I am very superstitious - that I would bring with me and never let anybody touch. Except for her. We'd often share it, lie next to each other in our seats and just enjoy each other's company.

She witnessed me wrestle for the State Championship in front of thousands of people. She congratulated me that morning when I beat one of the greatest wrestlers in the history of my weight class, and she told me I was still number one to her after I lost that evening in the finals. She was even there when I won my first Division championship, she was standing behind me in a picture in our local paper. She even gave me my gold medal when I went up to the stand.

So, anyway, I'm rambling. She was special. Well, that summer I was chosen to represent Montana -and the U.S.- on a cultural exchange wrestling trip to Bulgaria. While I was gone, her parents all of a sudden got two jobs teaching out of state, in Wyoming. So in the span of three weeks, they found out they were hired and their family moved away. I was saddened, of course. I came back and she was gone.

So we wrote each other -it was a year or so before e-mail really came around - back and forth and then we met up again at the State Wrestling tournament again. I was upset big time in the state semi-finals and watched bitterly later that day as a guy I had beat before won the state title. After my loss, she was the first person I saw coming up the steps. She just grabbed me and, well, loved me for the rest of that afternoon. A bittersweet day, but I was glad I had her.

So after that, we continued writing back and forth. Of course, we were young and distance became too much, but this was something I recall fondly. The town she lived in was called Lovell, Wyoming. So, here is the romantic thing I did that I'm sharing with you all. Whenever I would mail her a letter, I would put faint little lines in the last two LLs in Lovell. So that her address would read:"Love, Wyoming." Soon she started doing the same thing, so all of our letters sent back and forth had the word "Love" on the envelope. :loveya:

There ya go. I'm a sap. :)

Let's hear your stories. :popcorn:

[enigmatic]

1. That was great

Seriously. I'll tell mine, but only after Mrs. E goes to sleep, because I'd be to embarrassed to write it now because it's about her..

We gotta meet up, bro; get your noogie in person:)

[Wetzelbill]

2. you better tell yours, I can't be the only one left hanging....

No kidding, we gotta meet up. I gotta try to get that cabin by St. Mary's lake. Then we'll all be in the goods. :)

[GoddessOfGuinness]

3. A couple of decades ago, a boyfriend met me at the airport

and hurdled the waiting area chairs to get to me as quickly as possible. He was being so sweet, but I thought I'd die from embarrassment! :blush:

[Wetzelbill]

6. That's so cool!

It's almost cliche' but I bet to have someone be that excited to see you, it would just be exhiliarating. :)

[GoddessOfGuinness]

49. I think mostly he was feeling guilty

for messing around with a friend of mine while I was gone.

But, that was long ago, and he's probably as glad as I am that we didn't get married. :D

[Cyndee_Lou_Who]

4. I was meeting a VERY handsome cadet at the USNA in Annapolis.

We met online and had 'known' each other for about a year before we first saw each other. I was in Baltimore for work and drove to Annapolis to pick him up for dinner. I arrived on the beautiful campus on the Chesapeake Bay and he was in full dress blues. He was the most beautiful man I've ever laid eyes on. He stepped into the passenger seat and, without saying a word, he reached over and put my seat belt on me, kissing my cheek along the way.

I dunno why that made me all melty... but it sure did.

[Wetzelbill]

5. that's a really good one

One of those spine-tingly moments huh? :)

[short bus president]

44. Note to self:

yvan eht nioj.

;-)

[Cyndee_Lou_Who]

45. .

:loveya:

[Child_Of_Isis]

7. Romantic is...

Living with a man who raised my daughter as his own. Wihout any help from her real father.

[Wetzelbill]

8. now that is a helluva man

I respect that greatly. :)

[Child_Of_Isis]

9. So does she ;-) n/t

[Wetzelbill]

10. oh hell no, DUers aren't getting off this easy.....Kick

:kick:

[BlueIris]

11. So, before my ability to love others was irrevocably destroyed...

I fell in love at first sight once. No, it had nothing to do with his appearance, anyone who might be contemplating flaming me. He wasn't really what you would call "conventionally attractive." It was a strange feeling I experienced the first time we were ever in a room together. Sure enough, it blossomed into loving adoration. I don't feel like telling the rest of the story, but it was something else. Actually, I think that was the last official time I was in love.

[Wetzelbill]

12. that was beautiful

Yeah, sometimes you just make that bond or whatever you want to call it right away. It's unspoken. You've mentioned having the ability to love others being destroyed before. I hope that isn't always the case. I hope you find something unbelievable. I think you deserve it. :)

[BlueIris]

14. Aw, thanks. nt.

[xmas74]

13. I've never really had romance.

I had a guy once pick a dandelion for me and give it to me. That's the closest I've ever gotten to actual flowers. And I had a guy offer to get a tatoo on his arm and let me pick the pattern. That doesn't really count either.
Now that I think about it, no one has ever done a single romantic thing for me. Ever.

[jmm]

16. Maybe that's a good thing

because the most romantic men I've dated have ended up being the biggest bastards. I'd rather have a guy that can't tell the difference between an iris and an orchid then one who is suspiciously smooth.

[xmas74]

17. These guys were redneck assholes.

It wasn't a good thing. One romantic thing instead of "Get me a can of Bud out of the cooler" would have held me over for a lifetime. Even a damn Hallmark card would have been a vast improvement.

[Wetzelbill]

25. I'm definitely not suspiciously smooth myself

but I have been incredibly sweet at times and and incredible bastard too. Rarely, but it does happen. Most guys are raving idiots until we are at least 35 or so. I'm 30 so we'll see. I have friends who use women like cattle, they literally have slept with more women then I care to mention, all are silver tongued and complete bastards. So yeah, you definitely have a point. So where's your story anyway. :)

[jmm]

29. My story

One day while I was at a bus stop I heard a man say something in Spanish.

me: Are you talking to me?
him: Yes do you speak spanish?
me: No
him: What bus are you waiting for?
me: The 450
him: Me too

I later found out that was a lie and he went three hours out of his way to talk to me. He had to me the most romantic man I ever met. I lost my voice soon after we met and he came to my house with some movies he thought I'd like. He sang to me and cooked for me. He would bring flowers to my job. My grandmother died a month after we met and when I was telling him about her I mentioned how the only thing I wanted from her was the lego I'd play with at her house. The only other material thing of hers I cared about was a book of poems by e e cummings that she gave to me a few months before she died. The next time I went to his place I saw that he had bought a book of his. I asked if he was a fan and he said that he hadn't heard of him before our conversation but wanted to understand why it was important to me. For about two months after we met we talked nearly every day. The only thing we didn't talk about much was our families. The little he said about his led me to realize he didn't have a very good home life growing up and it was a soar subject for him.

Then came the day we broke up. While out together we ran into one of my uncles. We talked for a few minutes then my uncle left. He asked if my uncle was African American.

Me: Yes
Him: I didn't think you were black
Me: You've already met my white mom. Unless you thought I was adopted you had to realize my dad was darker than her.
Him: I thought you were Dominican like me until you said you don't speak Spanish. Then I assumed you were Cape Verdian or something. I would never have asked you out if I knew the truth.
Me: :wtf:
Him: I still like yo despite it I mean you're only half bad. I've just had too may problems in the past with black women.
Me: For a man who doesn't like black women you sure love you some sisters!
Him: I hope this doesn't change things.

I'll spare you the rest of the details but that's the last time we ever spoke.

So yeah I like romance but I hate the feeling of trusting someone and thinking they really care about you only to watch them rip their mask off and reveal the asshole they really are.

[Wetzelbill]

31. Ouch

what a grade A #1 a-hole.

You know, you just never know. That's what bothers me about love, poltics anything. You think you know somebody and they say something or do something that is just off the wall bastardish. If that's even a word. A woman on a thread earlier this week, maybe last week, was all up in arms because her husband of like 30 years told her not to gain any weight. She wasn't even heavy either. He just hurt her like that, you know? It isn't always that way of course, but somethings in this world and some people make me wonder if we all aren't half batshit. Too much hate and insensitivity out there for my tastes.

Thanks for sharing your story. I hope things are working out for you now though, and if not, I'm sure they will. :)

[Wetzelbill]

20. I haven't really had it returned

to me all that much. The one I just wrote about was pretty much it, and, my dumbass took her for granted. I haven't had it that good since. :)

[xmas74]

43. I've never had it given.

So I really don't know what it's like. If it didn't consist of a bottle of cheap liquor or a 6 pack of even cheaper beer than it wasn't a date (at least where I grew up).
Some of the women I went to school w/ feel like the luckiest woman on the planet if her man remembers to pick up his sweaty socks from the living room floor just once. Romance doesn't seem to blossom around here.

[NNadir]

15. When my wife and I were "just friends" she made me a birthday dinner

and a banana cake (because my late mother used to make me a banana cake). She said she just wanted to thank me for all the nice things I'd done for her. She must have spent hours cooking, and at the end, she produced two tickets for Dustin Hoffman on Broadway in "Death of a Salesman."

Shortly after our friendship grew into becoming lovers, and finally husband and wife. It's twenty years and still I love her more than I ever imagined I could love anyone. She is the finest person I have ever known.

[Wetzelbill]

21. I hope I end up half as lucky as you are

That's special. I like the "just friends" thing, when it moves into something more. Very enriching. :)

[NNadir]

24. Somehow I think you will be.

It sounds like you have the right stuff.

[Wetzelbill]

26. well thank you

I hope so. Thanks for sharing your story.

[BlueIris]

18. OK, I just thought of a couple more:

I should preface this with the caveat that for me, as Oprah says, the romantic part of love is about doing not being. And for me, a large part of that doing is about the little things. No, I do not mean the expected things that partners should always do for each other (share chores, childcare responsibilities and express a reasonable amount of consideration for one another). I mean the truly considerate things no one else except your partner would ever know to do for you. My last ex is a total asshole, about which I have written a lot on this board. But perversely, before he snapped and decided to reveal his misogyny once and for all, he did seem to know me and did the occasional really sweet thing. Like, this one time, I had REALLY painful oral surgery, (like, if I hadn't been a broke college student I would have consulted a malpractice attorney) and I needed to take some Percocet to deal with the "discomfort." I had requested some juice to swallow the pills with, and while he was in the other room getting it, I thought, "goddamnit, I forgot to tell him to put a bendy straw in it, so I can actually drink the damn stuff." Then he brought me the juice with the bendy straw already in it. Because he was feeling observant and kind that day. Then there was one other moment when I was eating Indian food at his apartment, and I'd been drinking a beer I didn't think he'd noticed I had, and I took this extra-spicy swallow of Vindaloo and was like, "beer! Now!" (except, I couldn't find my beer) and he handed it to me. That was romantic.

But ack! Otherwise such a jerk! What was I thinking?!

[Wetzelbill]

22. those little things

can really knock a person for a loop can't they? :)

[khashka]

19. Most romantic thing I ever did was marry my ex wife

We were seriously involved but still seeing other people. And she got pregnant, but not by me. So we got married. She told me "But it's not your baby! You don't have to marry me." I told her I wanted to marry her and that any baby of hers was a baby of mine. And I meant it.

Second best was when my lover carried me in his arms and put me in the bathtub and bathed me. It wasn't sexual at all. It was more about his desire to take care of me.

Khash.

[Wetzelbill]

23. good stuff

that second one, the notion of just having someone who take care of you like that is nice. Sometimes we allow ourselves to be vulnerable like that, and to have someone take over and make everything alright is unspeakably fulfilling.

Hell, I thought you were going to retell that story about the 55 year old woman in the park I saw on that other thread, lol. :)

You are one cool guy though, that's for sure. (16, jeezus,man....)

[khashka]

27. The 55 year old lady in the park....

that wasn't romance, that was pure unmitigated juicy lust :)

Khash.

[Wetzelbill]

28. LOL

I hear that. :toast:

[In_The_Wind]

30. an enchanted college romance

We met while attending a community college. He was married. Darned!

Then the following year we bumped into one another again and they had gone their separate ways.

Phil and I began dating. We would drive out to the very tip of Long Island for a seafood supper overlooking the ocean, check into one of the tiny little motels that were all over the place back then and return home when the spirit moved us ... back west to Manhattan Beach and the cozy little apartment that had become our home.

A few years later, after finishing the long haul of 4 years of college and working in the real world we went our separate ways.

Phil and I loved each other we were just too young and immature to work out the problems of raising a family together. As we broke up he ask me to give him a call in 20 years. That was in 1979.

Thanks to a recent DU thread I was able to locate Philip L Younger living in south Florida. There were two last known addresses & one phone number. I bought cute little cards to mail him and then Florida got wailed by a hurricane. I haven't send the cards yet.

[Wetzelbill]

32. Oh! Send them!!!!

Don't wait, Joani! That is a beautiful story. I always think about that type of stuff. I've never really experienced it. I'd like to have someone who I could go somewhere with and just stay in a cozy little motel out in some nice out of the way pleasurable vacation spot. Just for a weekend, you know? Eat overlooking the ocean, or a lake or somewhere in a beautiful wooded area. Even see historic places. etc. Anything like that. But, yeah, I am a hopeless romantic. I also happen to be ideosynchratic too, so I even my foolish sappiness out with pure weirdness, lol.

I like this story. Let me know how it progresses, I say pick up a phone and work your magic. :)

[In_The_Wind]

34. I rarely speak on the phone with anyone.

hearing aids and telephones are not a very good mix

I bought the cards the day before I did an escape run to> I'm such a wimp about things like this.

I hope to find him happy & secure, bouncing the grandchildren that he always wanted on his knee. I fear that may not be the way things are for him.

[BelleCarolinaPeridot]

33. Send those cards .

As a fellow Virgoan also born on August 24th , I say send those cards .

[Wetzelbill]

35. Yeah, Joani, listen to CP!

And, you, tell us a story. :)

[In_The_Wind]

36. ~

I'm crying too much to even post with you guys right. How the hell will I ever get those cards written and mailed.

[Wetzelbill]

38. awwww

are you really? Just take your time and do your thing. Be your sweet self and it'll all be cool. :)

[In_The_Wind]

40. thanks

I've been thinking a lot about the people I've loved and lost.

Out of nowhere my best friend from college called about two weeks ago after not speaking to one another for the past 3 years. It was a very nice surprise.

I'm sure Phil will be surprised and happy to hear from me when I actually do get around to mailing those cards.

[Wetzelbill]

41. oh he'll be thrilled I'm sure nt

[In_The_Wind]

37. I will

sometime before our birthday

[Mutley]

39. A couple years ago...

My grandfather and one of my best friends from high school died within a few weeks of each other, and I was having a really difficult time dealing with it. So, my SO showed up at my job one day with flowers and lunch for me.

Doesn't seem like a big deal, but at the time I was emotionally distraught and work was very stressful that day, and I had called him just to hear a friendly voice. When he realized I was having a bad day, that's when he decided to stop by. It was just what I needed and it made me feel better for the rest of the day.

[Wetzelbill]

42. well that's nice

something simple like that can really mean a lot. Sometimes you just need to hear that voice or have that spontaneous moment of kindness to make everything all better. :)

[BlueIris]

46. OK, I am totally crying after reading that.

Because: sniffle.

When my grandpa died, that was the lonliest time in my life.

[Mutley]

47. I know the feeling.

:hug:

My SO wasn't so great at helping me deal with my pain over those deaths... but that day he managed to do just the right thing.

[Wetzelbill]

48. aww.... BlueIris

now you're making me fall apart here myself....

You have the great ability to convey all of your emotion in just a few words. I always wish I could say more to you. To find the words to help you make peace with your pain. But, really, all I can do right now is say I understand, I know you will reconcile your hurt and give you one of these: :hug: But, yeah, you're something else. Don't ever let yourself totally stop caring, I know you say you have lost the ability to love, but I hope not, because you have so much of it to give. That's about all I can say. Words are escaping me right now. :)

[Redstone]

50. I spent literally (and I MEAN literally) the last $600.00 I had

to fly the future Mrs R. from California to come live with me in New England.

Then drove 300 miles (I was away from home at the time) without stopping to pick her up at the airport at 2 AM.

Redstone

[Wetzelbill]

53. now that is awesome

That's a pretty cool tale to tell. Hey when you don't have a lot but are willing to throw it all to the wind for love then nothing can beat that.

So I think I read somewhere that you're a writer. What have you written? I'd be interested in checking it out.

[Redstone]

62. Well, I've written a marketing book which is

in the process of being updated (it was originally written in 1992, but it's still the only FUNNY marketing book I've ever seen); a book with a collection of my newspaper columns, essays, and stories (again, going through editing), and a bunch of restaurant reviews.

And a cookbook, which Skinner said I could plug on DU since it's for a non-profit group. I'll eb mentioning it as soon as I can get the order form done for the group's website.

And the unfinished (since 1977) novel, of course. Who doesn't have one of them?

I'll be selling the mnarketing and essay books on cafepress when I get off my lazy ass and get the revisions finished. But since you're a DUer who asked, I'll email you pdf versions if you'd like.

PM me with your email address, and I'll send the stuff when it's done. But be patient.

Thanks for asking.

Redstone

[Dastard Stepchild]

51. A very splendid man...

knowing that I am a vegan, traipsed ALL over the metro area looking for a vegan birthday cake for me.

A delicious surprise, and a very delicious cake!

[Wetzelbill]

52. well that was nice of him

It's important that someone is thoughtful and respects your convictions like that. Thanks for sharing. :)

[Dastard Stepchild]

54. it was quite charming :)

It is rather nice when people pay attention to the little details in another person's life.

[Wetzelbill]

55. definitely nt

[gmoney]

56. Signed up for a woodworking class...

I'd found this little stained-glass heart with my intended's initial on it, and I pictured it inlaid in the top of a jewelry box. So, I took a class at the rec center during the few weeks before her birthday. Used my limited skills to make a fairly passable jewelry box... if I'd had time to make ANOTHER one it would have been much better, but anyway.

So, I managed to get her to meet me for lunch the day before her birthday, where I presented her with this little handmade token and professed that I was really smitten with her and that I really wanted to be with her.

Predictably, I got the "I don't think of you that way" brush off from her, although we did remain friends until she moved away and married a millionaire's son. Sigh...

:nopity: :banghead:

[Wetzelbill]

57. at least you gave it a shot....

You went down swinging anyway. That was a helluva romantic gesture and it was good that you remained friends.

I used to give this girl all kinds of stuff, some of my writings etc. I gave a rose and a card on her birthday, all to no avail. We didn't get along very well either. Not after a while. She was an extremely difficult person, I was too dumb to see it.

But, yeah, thanks for sharing, that was a good move, even if it didn't work out. At least you had the balls to do it. More power to you for that.

[BamaGirl]

58. My husband and I met in basic training

and I chased him shamelessly lol, but this about something he did for me. I broke my leg pretty early in training, but still was able to do quite a bit. We spent one really awful day on a range from about 5am to well past midnight. It was freezing and sleeting. Everyone was soaked and I was in some major pain by this point. Anyway, he and I were first on the firing line when night qualifications came up. After that we were pretty much free, and there was a set of covered bleachers to hang out on. I went right there, climbed a little up out of the rain and refused to move when some friends came and told me they (the ladies who run the dining facility) had brought out some hot chocolate. They couldn't bring me any cause the ladies in charge wouldn't let anyone have more than cup. A few minutes later hubby showed up with two. I don't know how the hell he got them, but the man could charm a rattlesnake. It doesn't seem like much to anyone who wasn't there, but it was a big deal. We've been married eleven years. He's done a lot of very sweet things, usually before he breaks it to me that the Army is sending him somewhere again lol, but this is the one that always stands out to me.

[Wetzelbill]

59. well that's a nice story....

really sweet and thoughtful of him too. Thanks for sharing. :)

[SOteric]

60. It would be too incredibly sad to share, but

it is very nice, on a quiet evening, just to sit and remember.

[Wetzelbill]

61. awww......

well, I'm glad you remember it fondly. :)