[ WP ] `` I never thought it would happen ''

-119 
 
 I had wanted Tammy for as long as I could remember. It's not to say, she was the only woman I wanted in that time, but she was the first. She was tall. She was lithe. She was a sylvan child born of old forests and sunlit morning glades. Her hair tumbled like a waterfall of chocolate locks, spilling across her shoulders and washing down her back. She was my secret love, a sultry serenade of feminine delight. And, our story began seated at the round table in second grade art class with the smell of pencil shavings and old crayons filling our noses. 
 
 She noticed me noticing her. Her eyes glittered then glistened, her perfect posture letting her look me in the eyes without craning her neck. I was a giant among my school mates and she was an Amazon, one of only three. 
 
 `` Do you think I'm pretty?'' She asked. Of course, you silly girl. 
 
 `` No.'' I muttered, averting my eyes. I did n't have to see her shoulder's slump, I heard them fall with her sigh. 
 
 Third grade, we played opposite each other in P.E. class. Volleyball was where we shined. She was laughing. Her smile was like sparkled brighter than anything I'd ever seen. I convinced myself it was the gleam of her smile that blinded me to the spike Renee directed my way. The ball smashed into the side of my head, I keeled over, but before the embarrassment of the strike distracted me, I saw the look of concern in her eyes. It made me smile. 
 
 Fourth grade breezed by. She was in a different class that year. I saw her did n't the art walk they school had. It was the year New York renovated the Statue of Liberty. She came skipping down the hall and tried to sell me a chocolate lady liberty. I did n't have money and knew it, but she smelled nice, and I had her wait while I looked for my nonexistent money. She thanked me anyway. Her thin lips curving up into a perfect smile. Her eyes even smiled and my heart ached. 
 
 Fifth grade, I moved away. Sixth grade, I moved back. She was dating Pete that year. He was pompous. He was that kid you imagine every doctor began as -- uptight, proper, and rigid. She smiled. She hugged his arm, held his hand, and laughed at his unfunny jokes. To say I was jealous is to not understand what a broken heart feels like. I was envious. I was crestfallen. I was emotionally bankrupt. She had forgotten me, or had she. I was sure her looked lingered a moment longer on me than it should. Is it possible? 
 
 Seventh grade and eighth grade, I was chaotic. It seemed I always caught sight of her when there was never a moment for us. She was so tall now. She played basketball and softball. I saw her in the gym once. Her long legs skipped across the floor. They were smooth and creamy, and seeing them caused a stirring that had never occurred before. I saw her again in a debate for student council president. She was debating me, though it was silly label it a debate. She spoke eloquently. I fawned shamelessly. She won. She smiled. I got to shake her hand and it was cold. I wanted to hold it in my hands to warm it -- them, but I let go, and she walked away -- again. 
 
 Ninth grade, my father died. I was being shuffled off on relatives out of state. It was she the office sent to collect me so they could deliver the news. She was like a spoonful of sugar before the bitter medicine was consumed. She hugged me, and I heard a catch in her voice as she expressed her condolences. I held her a little longer than was necessary, but she did n't seem to mind. 
 
 I moved back when I was eighteen and graduated. I came back looking for her. I found her. Her father owned a cabinet shop, and I came calling. I stood in his garage as she was called. She swept down the steps, her surprise morphed into a smile, and it was dazzling. I felt my heart thudding in my chest. She came at me like a lover, enveloping me in her embrace. It was an embrace I gladly and warmly returned. 
 
 We walked after that -- down the long winding drive, through the edges of the forest with the pink and white blooms of the dogwood. Apple blossoms spilled petal by petal with each new breeze. One landed in her hair and I brushed it away. Her eyes were intense and though I had dreamed of this moment many times, I was startled and surprised when she leaned forward and kissed me. I never thought it would happen. 
 
 We walked often after that. Almost every day. That was in 1992. We've been married for twenty-two years. We have two children. A daughter who is just this year graduating from highschool and a younger daughter who has just turn ten. I've never been happier. I've never felt so loved, and waking up beside her confuses me, because I wake from one dream into another. 
 
 The only down side for me, is that this is n't my story or my life. I never th ought it would happen, and it did n't. I waited to long. I was spectator to one of the most beautiful love stories the world has ever known. I still see her on my facebook page. I still hear her asking me if I think she's beautiful. I did n't answer you then, but Tammy, the answer was a resounding yes.
