Entry #6 - A Million Words: My Love Story

My love story consists of over 100 voice tapes, 200+ letters, countless post cards, and 3 weddings. There would be five less children in this world if I had not gotten annoyed.
I was in my second year of college when I received a letter from Texas. The picture enclosed looked like Superman’s; I was smitten. I was 18, no boyfriend because of my mother’s many watchdogs. There were many chaperons. I was more interested in love story from books, not in being someone’s girlfriend. I went on movie dates, but only if three or more of my cousins come along. They’d sit between my date and me. I preferred books to boys.
My very first letter to David was out of ire and indignation over one of his paragraphs in his first letter. After two pages though, I started enjoying myself. I’ve never written such long, unrehearsed letter before. I thought he said that he’s not expecting to met anyone as smart as him. He was horrified when he found out I thought that.
I enjoyed our correspondence because I can talk about anything in our letters. Between the two of us, we wrote every day. It was like having conversation in print with answers arriving 2 to 3 weeks later.
I made it clear that I will not be bossed around. He said it’s okay, he already has a dog. I informed him I won’t clean up after him like a maid; he answered with a behavioral contract. It contain his promise not to order me around, expect me to clean up after him, if we quarrel, how long he’ll be gone to cool off, and a promise not to raise his voice at me unless the house’s on fire. My mother didn’t mind the letters thinking it won’t interfere with my school. Then 3 months into writing, David said we’re going steady because we have discuss things equivalent to two years of dating. We’ve talked about our ideal marriage, what kind of spouse were looking for, what kind of wife I will be and many more. In September, he proposed. I accepted. It was only three months since his first letter. We felt we have gotten to know each other. When he mentioned visiting me I thought he’s just visiting to met. I procrastinated so long; it was two days before he’s scheduled to arrive before I realized that we’re going to have a wedding. I have to arrange a wedding in two days! My relatives helped me. Even with such a short notice, I had about 300 guests. Our wedding day in October, 1991 was beautiful. The wedding ceremony lasted almost 2 hours! The ceremony was only 20 minutes; the rest was a long lecture. He had a weekend to get married, and his job called him back home. We decided to get intimate after we’ve gotten to know each other in person longer than 2 days. I would not see my husband again for six months. I was a virgin wife. I was heartbroken when he left. We had another wedding in May, 1992. Five years later, we had our 3rd wedding, Jewish style. Here we are 17 years later. Five children and still very much in love.