Timing is everything! Even with love!

The first time I saw my now Husband, was in a bar (1981). Grant it I was under age by 3 years, but I had only stopped in because one of my girlfriends Mother owned the bar and another one of my girlfriends was dating a regular of the bar. The bar door had a bell above it and when someone walked in and the bar wasn't too noisy everyone would turn to see who just walked it.

We entered, the bells rang, the guys that were sitting at the bar all turned to see who came in and that's when my heart almost burst through my chest. You know that feeling, it is thrilling and terrifying at the same time. The introductions were made and he didn't look twice at me (something that I wasn't used to, but understood when my girl friend told me he's off limits, he's married!) It was like window shopping to me....liked it! wanted it! But I was not going to get it! lol Married men are taboo.....call me old fashioned! But I told my girlfriends who looked at me like I was nuts and said to them, "I am going to marry that man someday!"

Over the next 3 years we ran into each other a lot, I took off with a new love to New York but was in town a lot and Jim still never paid attention to me. To a girl who's Father could not honor his marriage vows from the start, I found this man (Jim) to be an honorable husband. By the beginning of 1985 I was through with New York and moved back home I needed to finish growing up and my Boyfriend, who I left behind in New York, loved me enough to let me go and do that, the door would always be open.

By the Spring of 1985 I ran into Jim again, it was like he noticed me for the first time, I could tell by the way he looked at me, (come on girls we know the difference when a man looks at us and then LOOKS at us! lol) During our first few minute of conversation of How you been? how is life treating you? I found out that Jim's marriage was over, divorce papers were filed and he was going through the same stages in life as I was at trying to figure out who he was and were he was going. We were to meet later for drinks after his softball game was over, but signals were crossed and we both waited at two different bars, thinking the other person just blew us off.

In life timing is everything, from the first time I saw him, my heart called out to him and patiently waited for a response, we did not see or speak to each other again until spring of 1986. He had run into some friends of mine who had told him how I felt about him all these years and even my girl friend who first introduced us told him how I said I was going to marry him someday........and on that day the stars finally lined up, we both no longer belonged to someone else and he called me and asked if he could take me out to dinner.

At first I had no idea who was on the other end of the phone, when I returned his call, just a message, Hi Kim this is Jim, could you please return my call? I called him back and when he asked me over for dinner, I still had to ask if I even knew him and he said, "I hope so you are supposed to marry me someday!" Right then I knew who it was, dropped the phone, danced around my kitchen for a minute, then casually picked up the phone and said "Yes" to dinner.....its been kismet ever since.

Many times before that call our paths crossed, but it wasn't our time to be. I believe that if we would of started this love affair at any time sooner than we did, it would not have lasted all these years. It was finally the right time, our time and even today when I look at him, I think that even if I just met him at this time, I would still fall in love at first sight and say to myself, "I'm going to marry that man someday!" That's how you know if it's forever love.......when you keep falling in love with the same person over and over again, that is what keeps old love new.

What a gift that is and I am thankful!