A Valentine’s Day Love Story
Valentine’s Day, 1998 – somewhere in Utra Pradesh, India, I lay in bed wondering about my future. I had faxed a valentine message to my husband and knew that I might not get a response. A palm reader had prophesized that we would get a divorce. I knew things would be different when I returned from my five week tour of India. Had he been angry when I was chosen for the Rotary executive exchange instead of him? Had he been doing his “inner work” while I was doing so much of my own on this extended trip?
As I was feeling very alone and sad, a face appeared to me in the dark. It was male and somebody I did not recognize. I looked carefully at the features so I would remember this stranger if we should meet in the future. He seemed kind, and he appeared to recognize me as he stated very clearly that I didn’t need to worry – that I should have courage, be me, and I would not be alone in the future. I accepted this encouraging message as truth and soon fell asleep. In the morning a fax arrived from my husband just before we departed on our forty-two hour trip home to the US.
Valentine’s Day has always been special to me. My mother and sisters and I used to create wonderful Valentine’s cards and decorations with doilies and red hearts. I was invited out on my first date on Valentine’s when I was sweet sixteen. My car was stolen one year on Valentine’s Day when I was in Ohio and my fiance’ lived in California. That was not such a fun day.
I didn’t think much about it when a friend urged me to join him for a Valentine’s contra weekend in Knoxville, Tennessee, 2003. We had fun. I met some nice people. One man in particular seemed very enticing, and was very friendly. I enjoyed dancing with him. I really liked his long braid and beard, and his warm smile. Hmmm.
Fast forward nineteen months beyond that Valentine’s Day dance to another dance in South Carolina. I was camping with an old friend. The mysterious man that I had met in Knoxville showed up – alone – interested. My friend kidded me that it seemed that I was being “wooed” because this man with the exotic braid and wonderful smile kept showing up at our campfire. We spent LOTS of time together during that weekend. We have rarely been apart since then.
When Martin and I first met in 2003 – on Valentine’s Day – I didn’t recognize him. He says he DID recognize me. I know that I just was not finished clearing out my inner “emotional baggage” yet before getting into a life-long relationship commitment. I received another “vision” of him after the India “introduction” and after our first physical meeting, and with the information from that second psychic introduction I DID recognize him soon after we connected again at the SC dance. As we celebrated our anniversary this past weekend we both discussed how wonderful it is that we both took the time to clear out old emotional debris before we started our relationship so that it would never come between us. In our time together, even though we are very different in many ways, we truly love each other and respect our differences as we enjoy our time together. It is the best relationship either of us have ever experienced, and we know it is because we were ready for it and did our inner work!!
