The One

My wife always tells people that she knew I was the one the first moment that she looked into my eyes.  While that’s definitely romantic, it took me a bit longer to figure it out.  I had just gotten out of an incredible relationship that had ended badly.  My heart was bruised, and trust was in short supply.  So, I wasn’t ready to just jump back in without looking.

A few months after we started officially dating (because we knew each other for months before my wife informed me that we were now officially dating), I got sick.  Really sick.  Stomach virus, food-poisoning sick, throwing up, no energy…sick.  I couldn’t move.  I just lay in my bed and moaned for days.  The only thing I could get down was soup, and it didn’t always stay with me long.  You get the idea.

I was helpless, and I was miserable.  I was definitely not at my best.  And yet, despite this, my wife never left my bedside.  She cared for me.  She fed me.  She cleaned up after me.  She fretted over me.  She even called the doctor to find out if there was anything else she could be doing.  All they said was, “Get him some Sprite.”  But even then, she called someone and asked them to bring it to her, because she didn’t want to leave me for even a moment.

And when I finally got better a few days later, I knew that she was the one.  Anyone that would stay with you and nurse you through something like that, when they had absolutely no obligation to do so, was a keeper.  For better and for worse.  If she loved me even then, then she’d love me through anything.  And that was the stability and certainty that I needed in my life after my last relationship.

So, it may not have been as romantic as my wife’s seeing it in my eyes, but she’s always been the one since that moment.