First Meetings

I'm just back from our families' annual vacation to Cape May, NJ. It's a great time. Three generations coming together to bask in the surf and sun, eat, drink, and laugh. I love that my children get to have this time with their grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins. When all are gathered we're some 30 strong.

We sit around the table late into the night sharing memories and making new ones. As a romance writer every story starts when the main characters first meet. This year around the table we shared stories on how our happily ever afters began. Don't know if I've read any better in a book.

Pull up a chair I'll share a few...

My mom and dad meet at a dance. My dad and his friends were there scoping out the ladies. My mom and her friends were there with dates. My mom's date kept bringing her spiked drinks and was being more forward than she liked. Looking for an escape she made her way to my dad's group. She told them her date was trying to drink her under the table and asked them to help her out. So my dad stepped up and became her hero. He danced with her and,(although he didn't go into detail) he made sure her date got the message she wasn't interested and made sure she got the message he was interested in her. Their happily ever after dance lasted 43 yrs before my mom passed away in 2007. My dad's eyes still light up when he talks about her.

My inlaws met on a double date. The night ended with the couples deciding they liked each other's date better. 50 years of marriage later- for both couples- they are still each other's favorite date.

My hubby and I met at a party. Unbeknownst to me, he had an on going bet with a friend. Who could "score" girls for every letter of the alphabet, first. My name starts with M. He already had his M. But as the night went on he kept making his way back to me. He'd decided I was worth losing the bet over. A bet his friend told me all about one night as he complained he'd welched on it. Now, the DH has never confessed how many letters he had accumulated, but 26 yrs later he still says M is his favorite letter of the alphabet.

This year, we had a new member to the group. My oldest son's girlfriend joined us. They met when they were 2. She's the daughter of my husband's best friend from high school. We'd get together every time they came to town to visit his parents. Just friends. My son wanted to go to his prom with a friend, no attachments. He just wanted to have fun! He asked her. She convinced him having attachments could be fun, too. 2 years later they are very much attached.

Those were Four different starts to Four happily ever afters we heard at the table. I've heard them told a number of times over the years and they still make me smile.

Ya know, eight couples told their stories, in all. None were the same. I believe the first meeting of main characters in every happily ever after is quite unique.And I wear a t-shirt that says "Careful or you'll end up in my novel" around my family!

May the memory of every fist meeting bring you a smile.