This week brings us to the end of our Table Talker series. Our final question is this:
In FIREFLY ISLAND by Lisa Wingate, love at first sight brings a city girl to a remote ranch as a modern day mail order bride. Is there an “out of the box” love story in your family?
I guess my out of the box love story would be my own. I met my husband and married him one year later, choosing to say “I do” before our senior year of college. I realize that’s not as crazy as some love stories, but to my family and friends, it was pretty crazy. We hardly knew each other! The timing was a bit zealous!
One year after that we had our first child. Again, the timing wasn’t what everyone expected, most of all me. I remember being glad he was a boy. In case this whole motherhood thing didn’t go well at least my husband would have the son he’d always wanted.
Obviously, my concerns were unnecessary. I went on to become the mother of six children. My husband got the three sons he’d always envisioned having. And me? I got the three daughters I’d always dreamed of.
One night I walked into a college party and caught the eye of a boy standing just inside the door. And now, here we are 22 years later, with two children of ours in college. Some days it truly does feel like it happened that fast. But when I think of all that we have encountered and overcome in those 22 ensuing years I know that we’ve packed a lot of living into those years.
Our love story may have been out of the box but I guess in some ways they all are. Love in itself is a crazy endeavor– a never-ending experiment in facing life’s unexpected moments while trying to keep hold of the hand you pledged to hold all of your days. Sometimes our fingers are loosely entertwined, other times they are white-knuckled– hanging on for dear life. The point is that we manage to keep holding on.
Marybeth Whalen holds on for dear life in North Carolina with her patient husband and energetic children. She also writes novels, shares great books at www.shereads.org and blogs at www.marybethwhalen.com