Storybook Love Stories
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"Not exactly the things that set you up for romance. But romance found us anyway."

I can remember the very first time we met like it happened yesterday. I was remodeling an apartment at my sister's house so that my daughter and I could have a place to live because I had separated from my husband.  Meeting another man was the very last thing I had on my mind or planned on for my life - but there he was. Leaning against his truck with a baseball hat pulled down over his eyes.  I remember thinking that he had the best smile I had ever seen on a person - his smile traveled across his face and lit up his eyes. But that was it. Our only encounter.

Two years passed and I ran into him from time to time - even had lunch with him and mutual friends. During that time I was in an accident that left me disabled.  I was busy trying to adjust to a radically altered existence and reinvent myself in my new body. Those years were hard on him also. He has been diabetic for over 20 years and it finally took its toll on his kidneys. He was in End Stage Renal Failure and going to dialysis three times a week to stay alive. Not exactly the things that set you up for romance. But romance found us anyway.

It was simple really. His father and step mother are close friends of mine and they had a party. I remember seeing him come up the driveway on his motorcycle and feeling really happy that I was going to get to spend time with him again. We ended up spending the whole day talking - about everything. By the time he left I had made up my mind that I wasn't going to let anymore time go by. I called and invited him for coffee and we've been together ever since.

The truth is that I have never met anyone like him. His illness hasn't made him a victim or kept him from life. In fact, I have never met anyone who enjoys life the way he does or laughs as much as he does. Everyday is a good day for him and nothing gets in the way of him appreciating each moment. That is a really infectious thing to be around and it has helped me more than I can ever explain.

His sister selflessly and lovingly donated a kidney to him last year and like everything else that he does - he came through the surgery and recovery period better than any patient the transplant surgeons have ever seen. He still suffers from more debilitating health issues than any one person should ever see in a lifetime, but you would never know it if you met him. By example, he teaches me everyday that the bad things in life that are thrown your way don't matter anywhere near as much as the little, divine moments that we have in front of us all the time.

I don't think of myself as being "disabled" anymore, I'm just a woman lucky enough to be loved. While my body still has limitations, as does his, neither one of us are limited in our lives, we're just happy.

Rose, Swanzey