Published on July 16th, 2006.
Viewed 848 times.
Story rank of 19.
When true love happens neither time nor distance can destroy it.
We had such memorable meeting 18 years ago. Marc was hired into the position I wanted. I had been trying to get promoted to assistant manager of the candy store we worked in for months. When I came to work one day and was told this stranger off the street had MY coveted position, I was less than thrilled. The day Marc started at the store, I cornered him in the back room. Our first conversation was me telling him that I could not stand him. I informed him that his best option was to steer clear of me. I further informed him that I would not lift one finger to help him learn his new position or to make friends among the crew members. I'll never forget his reaction. He simply blinked at me, smiled and said, "Hi, my name is Marc."
True love did not bloom immediately. We worked side by side in one sided animosity for several months. Finally his overtures of friendship wore down my barriers. I begrudgingly accepted his friendship. After six months of his arrival into my life, Marc started to worm his way into my heart. I was seeing someone else at the time and Marc kept telling me he wanted us to be more than friends. I even wrote him a poem entitled, "Friendship is all I ask". Imagine my surprise when on a family vacation that summer, I could not get Marc off my mind. I kept thinking of him and wishing he was with me to share in the experience. On day 3 of the trip, I realized that while my thoughts were filled with Marc, I had not once thought of my then boyfriend. Upon arriving home I quickly phoned Marc before my courage failed. I told him that I had missed him and not my boyfriend and that if he was still interested, I would be willing to give going out with him a chance. I informed my boyfriend that things were not working out and that I thought we would be better off apart. He took it well, considering he was also seeing 2 other girls (unbeknownst to me!). Our first date we watched movies at his place. I would not have been happier if we had been on a whirlwind tour of Europe. On our one month anniversary tragedy struck. Marc tried to take his own life. I got him to the hospital and things ended well enough. It would be the first in several break-ups.
Flash forward about a year, and out of the blue I get a phone call from Marc. He had moved to Floridia and was getting ready to joing the Marine Corp. He asked if we could stay in contact. We did. He called once a week to give me status reports of his efforts to loose enough weight and get in good enough shape to enlist. With great determination and the help of his recruiter, he was able to acheive his goal. Marc left for boot camp and I waited anxiously by the phone. That sweet voice on the other end of the line reached me the day boot camp ended. We would talk as much as we could. He would wait in line for his turn on the phone. Not a quick thing when you share a phone with a group of homesick new Marines. But he was faithful to the pursuit. Just before he was to leave for his next step in training he called with an important question. Marc proposed marriage from North Carolina. I said yes!! We did not get to see each other for another month. He came home to me for Christmas. Keep in mind I had not seen Marc in two years. When he came to pick me up from work, I did not even recognize him. He had dropped 100 pounds and the Corp. had certainly changed his appearance. We went to our favorite neighborhood park and he proposed to me under the stars.
As fate would have it the stress of living hundreds of miles apart and planning a wedding would prove too much for our young love. We parted ways about three months into our engagement. Both of us still loved each other but we were both shattered by our break-up.
We jump ahead 2 years and again I receive an unexpected phone call from Marc. He was married and seeing a counselor who told him that he needed to get closure with me. Well, things did not turn out as expected. We talked out our problems. It was one of the most difficult phone calls I've had in my life. We both ended up accepting our share of the blame. It did clear the air, but it also rekindled our friendship. We would end up talking off and on for about 3 years. As his marriage fell apart he drew closer to me. Until the day that Fate stepped in and made my precious, honorable Prince make a difficult choice. His first wife was in a terrible accident. She was pronounced dead at the scene but with the heroic efforts of the EMT's was brought back. She lay in a coma for 3 weeks. It took 3 months for her to rehab enough to feed herself, learn to talk again, relearn every aspect of her life. My darling called me in tears and severed all contact with me. He told me that he had to help her and that he wanted his marriage and family to work out. Although heartbroken, I silently applauded his heroism. I would not hear from him for 10 years.
In 2004 I felt this pull to find Marc. It was like an obession. I just had to know where he was and if he was happy. I searched on-line and found a number that could have been his. On my birthday I swallowed my fear (and a couple of beers) and dialed the number. The voice on the machine sounded nothing like the voice I remebered. So, not wanting to create domestic violence in some strangers life, I left no message. I would learn 2 years later that it was Marc on the machine and that he was no longer with his first wife.
Early this year the need to find Marc was almost all consuming. My soul was crying out for him. I finally found his mother's number on-line. I carried it around in my pocket for 2 weeks before I had the courage to make that call. I left a message for her to call me and just let me know how Marc was. She never did call me back...he did. I was shaking so badly when I heard him on the other end of the line I almost dropped the phone. It was so amazing to hear his voice. We started talking, and it was like the years rolled away. It was almost like the past 10 years had been mere minutes. He almost immediately set about constructing a frame work of rules by which we were to operate. He had me to know in no uncertain terms that he would not under any circumstances: 1. Fall in love with me again. 2. Marry me. 3. We would only talk occasionally. All of these things were as he said non-negotiable. I told him that these were acceptable to me. It was enough just to have my best friend in my life again. Over the next 3 months he broke every one of those rules.
We made arrangements to meet in his hometown in the mountains while he was visiting his grandmother. When I pulled up to the meeting place I was so nervous I almost called him to tell him that I could not make it. It had been 18 years since I had first met him and the years had not been kind to me. Ofcourse, I made myself get out of the car and go in. Our eyes met and I walked straight into his arms. Now I fully understand the concept of a homecoming. I knew that was the one place in this world I'm supposed to be. We spent the next 2 days staring into each others eyes and talking. We talked about everything and nothing. And more than anything else we smiled. I have never in my life smiled more. Some how I ended up talking him into marring me. Our wedding was the complete opposite of anything I had ever pictured. Yet somehow it was perfect. We got married in a truck parts store in the mountains of Kentucky. Our witness were the clerk and Marc's favorite cousin. No one knew of our wedding except his cousin and his mother. My family would find out later. We found it vastly appropriate that we married on Mayday, the day all young maids are supposed to find their one true love. It just so happens that I married mine.
We hope someday to have the money to have a traditional wedding/ vowel renewal with all our friends and family around us. Maybe in a year we will have enough money saved to do so. But even if that never happens... we got the chance to complete our journey at last.
