Karilyn Bentley's Blog, page 33

Linda Steinberg ~ Cupid Comes Calling ... but sometimes, it's not the right time

Sometimes Cupid comes calling but it’s not the right time. Usually, he doesn’t come back.  But, fortunately for me, he did. 

Jim and I met in college. He was sitting across from me at the dorm cafeteria and I thought he was cute.  He had Elvis sideburns and a thick shock of sandy colored hair that swept over his forehead past his glasses. I was a senior, pretty much thought myself too mature to date anyone but another senior. So  I asked, quite cleverly, I thought, if he was a junior. “No,” he answered, in that laconic manner I have come to know and love. I breathed a sigh of relief. Then he added, “I’m a freshman.”

No way! At that age, three years difference is huge. And we had absolutely nothing in common. I was a city girl, he was a country boy. I was an only child, he was one of six siblings. We were of different religions, and had different political views. But he was the nicest, most gentlemanly guy I’d met in four years of college. And did I mention cute? 


We dated on and off for the next three and a half years. I say ‘on and off’ because most of that time we were living in different states. And whenever we were able to get together I was never sure when, or even if, we’d see each other again. This wasn’t going anywhere. We led different lives. But neither of us wanted to break it off. 

Eventually, we both knew it was time to go our separate ways. I could see Jim and me living happily together for a few years, but try as I might, I couldn’t envision myself sitting across the breakfast table from him in fifty years. Hold that ironic thought.

A year later, I met my husband. From similar backgrounds, we connected instantly. We  built a life together, traveled all over the world, had two wonderful daughters. We’d been married almost thirty-two years when, suddenly and unexpectedly, he died. 

That same year I received an odd message on my answering machine. The caller, a man with a deep Southern accent, said that ‘it had been a long time’ and I should call if I wanted to talk to him. He left a phone number, but no name.

No name? He expected me, after not having seen or heard from him in thirty-five years, to recognize his voice? But of course, I did.  Of all the guys I dated when I was single, Jim was the only one I’d ever wondered about. Had he earned the engineering degree he was working so hard for? I hoped he’d found someone special and was happy.

After some hesitation, I returned his call. We talked for two hours, catching up. He now lived in Alabama. He had three sons. He’d been married to the same woman for thirty-two years, and she’d passed away a year before.  For someone I’d thought so completely different from me, we seemed to have led almost parallel lives. We exchanged email addresses. I figured we’d correspond for a few weeks or months, then gradually dwindle down to an annual birthday message. 

While I was still in mourning for my husband, Jim came to Dallas to attend a continuing education class. It was awkward seeing him, especially in my circumstance. There was nothing romantic about the meeting. But seeing him in person finally dispelled the image I’d carried of that nineteen year old boy with the thick glasses.  As we continued to email, I began to think of him as he was now. And at this age, a three-year difference meant nothing. 

After almost a year of emails and phone calls, we decided to meet in New Orleans for Mardi Gras to get reacquainted. But we didn’t need much reacquainting. He was still the same person I’d known years ago. And, just like years ago, I left New Orleans without any suggestion or promise of when (or if) I would see him again. 

Jim is very handy, and he’s all about being ‘useful.’ So I seduced him to come to Dallas by asking him to help me hang the curtains I’d recently purchased. One visit led to another, and now...
It’s forty-five years, almost to the day, since we first met. Both retired, we’ve been living together for two and a half years. We have a lot more in common than I would have thought, and the differences we do have no longer matter. Remember the irony I mentioned? God willing that we’re both alive and healthy, I am looking forward to that fifty-year mark, sitting at the breakfast table with my Jim, doing our daily Sudoku puzzles.



I’ve been hearing a lot of other real-life reunion stories lately. Has this happened to anyone you know?

Remember to comment to be eligible for the prize gift card. And I will draw a name from those commenting today to receive a copy of my romantic suspense, The French Deception, or my contemporary romance, Only  With the Heart. 

Barb Han - Black Hair and Dance Moves Caught My Eye

 I was on the long road to finishing college (I worked my way through) and was about to turn twenty-seven. I’d gone out with friends to celebrate early. Sitting around the table at a nightclub, and being in between relationships, I realized I’d never dated a guy with black hair. In fact, I tended toward blue eyed, sandy-blond types. You know, Kens. I’d even dated a guy named Ken in high school. I know, Barbie and Ken. *gags*
While contemplating that thought, I made an announcement to my friends. The next guy I dated was going to have black hair. So, naturally, I look up and the first guy I see walking by the table has black hair. 
My friends laughed so hard, I took it as a challenge. 
But he’d disappeared into the crowd. Looking around, I finally spotted him on the dance floor. He wasn’t half bad. Actually, he had some decent moves. So, in all my bravado (birthdays have a way of pushing one out of their comfort zone or maybe it was the drink J), I joined him. 
We danced most of the night. At the end of the evening, he asked if he could buy me breakfast. I declined, expecting him to ask for my number but he didn’t. 
What could I do?
We parted and, with no way to reach one another, didn’t see each other for a month. I’d gone back to the same club after finals just to see if he was there. Apparently, he had, too. 
After another night of dancing, and much to my relief, he asked for my number. 
With him in grad school and me working my way through undergrad, we dated for three years before he asked me to marry him. Last November, we celebrated our fifteenth anniversary. And all of our kids are good dancers. 
Now it’s your turn. Tell me what attracted you to your guy, and is he a good dancer?

CUPID COMES CALLING -- LOVE LETTERS FROM NOTRE DAME

It was the 1950’s. The decade of poodle skirts, car hops, Elvis, and Rock and Roll. My dad played the tenor sax in a big band for local dances around Fort Worth. The leader of that band was my mother’s uncle, Jimmy. In the summer of 1952, when my mother was 15, she used to go to the dances where her uncle’s band played. When the band had a break, my dad came to sit at the table with his pal, Jimmy, and Jimmy introduced them. Mom says Daddy barely spoke to her. He was handsome, well-dressed, and older,(17) while she was a girl his mother considered “from the wrong side of the tracks”. Her parents were divorced, she moved from rented house to rented house every time her step-father lost a job, or her mother got bored.
In reality, Daddy was smitten from the first moment he laid eyes on her. But he was really shy. An only child of older parents, he grew up sheltered and his parents had very high expectations for his prospects. That fall he went off to Notre Dame. A year and a half later, he was home for Christmas break and Uncle Jimmy needed a date for his pal, (my dad) so they could double date, and called my mom. Mom says she had a big crush on Daddy, though he hardly spoke to her at all, but he asked her out for the next 2 nights! In mid-January he left for the spring semester at Notre Dame. And, though he returned to Fort Worth during the summer and Christmas breaks, he wrote to her from the Indiana university several times every week. My mom has kept those letters all these years. His correspondence was fairly tame, detailing his daily life, but the progression of his feelings is there, though mostly subtle. Here are a few snippets.

January 12th, 1954
Dear Luretta,
I received your letter this evening and was really glad to hear from you. After I read it I went to supper and then studied physics.
Be sure and write soon,
Chuck

April 8th, 1954
Dear Luretta,
There is a disc-jockey show that I have been listening to regularly for the past few weeks. They play real good records late in the evenings--Most of it is rhythm and blues and such stuff. What kind of music do you like?
Love ya,
Chuck

May 26th, 1954
Dear Luretta,
Well, I finished my last class of the year today. I’ll have a little extra time now with the exception of studying for and taking finals.
The folks will be leaving Sunday and we will be home the Monday after that. If you promise to be a good girl and behave yourself, I might phone you when I get home. (Though at first my feminist sensibilities were offended, my mom clarified two things here. 1. Daddy was jokingly referring to her dating other guys while he was away. 2. He most definitely was going to call her the second he got home)
Love and stuff,
Chuck

January 18, 1955
Dear Luretta,
…do take care of yourself. It’s gotten real cold. And speaking of, I suppose you realize that you’re going to have to hug me a whole lot this weekend just to keep me warm. No, on second thought, perhaps I’d better hug you.
Best of luck on your finals,
Love you,
Chuck

April 9th, 1955
Hi Honey,
…all morning, noon and afternoon, every time I looked at my watch I would imagine what you would probably be doing at that particular time, whether it was just getting up, or going to school, or eating lunch, or going to work. I can’t ever remember being so miserable. I can’t help missing you.
All my love,
Chuck

After that letter, there are no more because my dad convinced his parents to let him attend TCU in Fort Worth and he never returned to Notre Dame. Mom and dad dated for two more years and were married on April 26th, 1957. They were married 44 years until my dad passed away from cancer.
One side note. In the spring of ’54, my mother’s parents moved the family yet again, and my mother didn’t tell my dad, so when he got home that summer, he showed up at her NEW residence frantic. He said he’d gone to her old house and she wasn’t there and had called Jimmy to get her new address. She said she knew then that he cared more than he let on. So, I have my mother’s Uncle Jimmy to thank, three times!- for bringing my parents together.

Sometimes I think, with emails and texting, what a shame it is that we won’t have love letters written in our hand for our progeny to read. What do you think? Do you have any letters you’ve written that will someday be seen by future generations?

Leave a comment for a chance to win the $200 gift card. I'll also draw a winner from today’s commenters at midnight tonight for a copy of my latest Harlequin Blaze, RELENTLESS SEDUCTION. Be sure to include your email address with your comments! Good luck!

Kathy Ivan: Cupid Comes Calling (But He's not Knocking Down My Door)!

I hope you're having fun visiting with the Plotting Princesses and reading all these wonderful stories about love, happiness and finding that "perfect one." Make sure you keep coming back and leave a comment to be eligible for the $200 gift card at the end of the tour.

I've loved reading all these stories of first meetings and happily ever after. Love and romance is a huge part of my life. After all, it's what I write every day. Bringing together two people. That spark of attraction. Eyes meeting across a crowded room. Sharing that first magical kiss.

Okay, time for my confession. I'm single, as in never been married. I've never made that perfect connection. Sure, there have been people in my life that I've loved and still care about. But that one special person, the deep heartfelt connection you know will last for all eternity? Um, hasn't happened for me (yet).

I am a believer in true love. I've seen it happen all around me. My grandparents were a perfect example. Two more opposite people you'd rarely seen. Papa was 6 foot 4 and a mountain of a man. He worked for the railroad all his life, a rugged outdoorsman. Mama was barely 5 feet tall, and loved to cook and sew and do all the housewife-type things. Yet they FIT . Watching them as I grew up, even as a youngster, I knew he worshipped the ground she walked on and she adored him. They even renewed their vows on their fiftieth wedding anniversary. Their marriage succeeded because they never took it for granted. They worked at it every day, to keep it alive and fresh and real.

I know love is out there. It's not some ephemeral wisp of smoke that fades away. It's not a whisper on the wind. It is knowing your other half feels exactly the same way about you as you feel toward them.

So, if anybody happens to see Cupid hanging around, send him my way, because I may give up on a lot of things, but I will never give up on love.

Make sure and leave a comment to be eligible for the $200 gift card. I'll also be drawing a name of today's comments to get a copy of one of my books (either Desperate Choices, Second Chances or Losing Cassie).

CUPID COMES CALLING (But He's not Knocking Down My Door)!...

CUPID COMES CALLING (But He's not Knocking Down My Door)!

I hope you're having fun visiting with the Plotting Princesses and reading all these wonderful stories about love, happiness and finding that "perfect one." Make sure you keep coming back and leave a comment to be eligible for the $200 gift card at the end of the tour.

I've loved reading all these stories of first meetings and happily ever after. Love and romance is a huge part of my life. After all, it's what I write every day. Bringing together two people. That spark of attraction. Eyes meeting across a crowded room. Sharing that first magical kiss.

Okay, time for my confession. I'm single, as in never been married. I've never made that perfect connection. Sure, there have been people in my life that I've loved and still care about. But that one special person, the deep heartfelt connection you know will last for all eternity? Um, hasn't happened for me (yet).
I am a believer in true love. I've seen it happen all around me. My grandparents were a perfect example. Two more opposite people you'd rarely seen. Papa was 6 foot 4 and a mountain of a man. He worked for the railroad all his life, a rugged outdoorsman. Mama was barely 5 feet tall, and loved to cook and sew and do all the housewife-type things. Yet they FIT . Watching them as I grew up, even as a youngster, I knew he worshipped the ground she walked on and she adored him. They even renewed their vows on their fiftieth wedding anniversary. Their marriage succeeded because they never took it for granted. They worked at it every day, to keep it alive and fresh and real.

I know love is out there. It's not some ephemeral wisp of smoke that fades away. It's not a whisper on the wind. It is knowing your other half feels exactly the same way about you as you feel toward them.
So, if anybody happens to see Cupid hanging around, send him my way, because I may give up on a lot of things, but I will never give up on love.

Make sure and leave a comment to be eligible for the $200 gift card. I'll also be drawing a name of today's comments to get a copy of one of my books (either Desperate Choices, Second Chances or Losing Cassie).

Cupid Comes Calling: When Long Distance Goes the Distance

Cupid has a sense of humor. Just ask my dear friend Marie. Her first date with Edward began with Catholic Mass. Her second threw her amidst 60+ members of Edward’s family, after which Edward’s dad pulled Marie aside and asked about her relationship with his son.

With a wry half-smile, she replied, “Define ‘relationship.’” 

It was a fair point. Months had passed between their first and second dates. More than that, Marie’s career had moved her 1,200 miles away from Edward.

This was the mid 80s. She and Edward were both employed by a Fortune 500 company as professional nerds engineers. From early on, their coworkers had sensed their potential as a couple—both of them super smart gaming geeks—and tried to set them up. But while Edward was all for it, Marie hesitated.

“He was scary,” she told me with a laugh. But a Star Trek convention came to town and their wily coworkers arranged for Edward to be the one driving Marie home afterward. The two talked all night about the many things they had in common, and he finally asked her on an official date.

The result was Mass plus dinner plus “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off” (during which Marie laughed before the jokes happened because she saw them coming).

Immediately thereafter, Marie moved clear across the country.

While Edward scrambled to transfer his job and follow her, their courtship proceeded by phone. In just four months, the two had racked up $5K in long distance expenses. Things were clearly serious, in spite of having only had one official date.

Their second rendezvous wasn’t even an official date—more of a complex interweaving of their individual travel plans by road and air—and it culminated in Marie’s defining moment with Edward’s dad.

A couple of weeks later, Edward proposed. Over the phone.

He flew out to see her. They bought a ring... and a house. Her family said it couldn’t last.

Well... more than 26 years have passed since I had the privilege of witnessing their vows. Their four, mostly-grown children are super smart. They all love Star Trek.

Marie still anticipates jokes. Cupid is still laughing.


It’s my book birthday! Flushed hits the virtual shelves today. At the risk of spoilers, these characters come face to face with the prospect of a long distance relationship.


The blurb: When it hits the fan, he’s your man.

 Kissing her plumber in the middle of her dinner party wasn’t in Isabelle’s carefully-laid plans. But neither had she expected an ambush by her uninvited ex. So when Kim Martin, plumber to the rescue, charms her guests and poses as her new guy to spare her humiliation, she gets carried away.

 At first, being Isabelle’s faux beau suits Kim Martin just fine. She’s hot, intriguing and won’t get in the way of his plans to blow town and build a business he’s passionate about. But Isabelle just isn’t cut out to be a good time girl. She gets under Kim’s skin and into his head—and he’s not entirely sure what to do about that.

 Isabelle’s been fooled too often to trust a gorgeous flirt like Kim. Yet the more she tries to fit him into a box, the harder he fights his way out of it. Hot, bothered and more than a little flushed, she’s having trouble keeping her hands—or her heart—to to herself.

 Find Flushed at:
AMAZON
BARNES AND NOBLE
KOBO

 Visit Sally's website.

Would you ever risk a long distance romance? Has the advent of Skype and Google Hangouts and Face Time made a difference in making it work?
Weigh in in the comments. And be sure to include your email address to be entered to win the $200 Visa gift card!

 

Michelle Miles: Cupid Comes Calling ~ Love at First Faint

Welcome, beautiful readers, to the Princess Valentine’s Day blog event. I hope you’re having a swell time commenting on all the posts and getting your name in the hat for that $200 Visa gift card!

Our event is all about falling in love with that special someone. And of course falling in love with that special someone is all about how you met.

I’d tell you how I met my husband but it’s not exciting. We met at work, started dating, got married. The end! Okay maybe it was a little more exciting than that. I was actually dating a guy who was an owner of one of the PF Chang’s at the time. He stood me up on a concert I’d bought tickets for. My husband and I were friends at work (little did I know…) and so I asked him to go with me.

It was Loreena McKennit. October 9, 2007. Not that I remember all that well…

We had a great time and the rest, as they say, is history.

So now let’s take a step back in time for a tale of real romance. The year was 1954. It was summer. Location: Lobo Theater, Monahans, Texas.

Imagine if you will, a young lady working the concession stand. This is her part time gig while she goes to school. So she doesn’t have time to eat between that and work. And the whip-cracking boss wouldn’t allow eating at work.

Enter the cute projectionist – you know, the guy who ran the movie. Back then movies were reel-to-reel. Not digital. I know that’s a bit of a stretch for all you young folks. ;) He came in every evening to get a cup of coffee from the girl behind the counter.

One day, while the projection guy was coming for the last cup of coffee for the night, the young girl behind the counter faints! I’m betting that was secretly cupid’s arrow at work.

He, being the gentlemen he was, picks her up and takes her for food and drives her home. Naturally he asks her out on a date.

They were married in May 1955. It was clearly meant to be. I mean, how could he NOT marry her after she fainted right in front of him. I’d have been mortified.

And those two people, folks, are my parents. I blame them for my excessive love of movies. :)

My dad loved John Wayne and drank coffee by the gallon. He also loved the latest technology in moves. Imagine how excited he was when the first VCR hit the market. We had the first. You know, the big one with the giant buttons. We had a ginormous console TV with a “clicker” (aka a remote) that only had two buttons. On and off. We had the big movie camera that could ONLY sit on a tripod because it was so heavy you couldn’t carry it around on your shoulder. It was black and white.

They were married 47 years. Dad passed away in 2001. I wonder what he’d think of smartphones or the digital cameras we have today. Mom is pretty hip with her Android smartphone. I just can’t convince her to use an eReader. ;)

Now you tell me: What’s your favorite romantic movie?

Your comment gains you an entry for the gift card. I'll also draw a winner today for a copy of my latest book, A KNIGHT TO REMEMBER. Good luck!

Vicki Batman ~ Cupid Comes Calling: Not That Guy!

Cupid Comes Calling: Not that Guy!
 I was supposed to go to see the new Bond flick with a friend, only he'd had a little too much fun-in-the-sun. This I found out when I checked in with him on what time we wanted to go for the show. His doorbell rang as I was about to leave. My friend answered and there stood…his co-worker, a tall, thin, dark-headed young man. In a flannel shirt.  In May.  After we were introduced, the co-worker said, "Sorry, I'm interrupting." I said, "No, I was just leaving."
I explained about the movie, and all of the sudden, my friend said, "You take her." I was mortified, and said, "Our friend has had too much fun today. Ignore him." The co-worker said, "I'll go." Before I knew it, all was arranged.
I kept thinking I was being nice. And I was. I paid for my own ticket, did most of the talking. Afterwards, the co-worker dropped me off in my apartment's parking lot. Ooookkaaayyy.A nice escort to my door would have been kind, but no.
Fast forward to six weeks later to my roommate's surprise birthday party by the pool…
That afternoon, the co-worker phoned and asked me out. I declined and invited him to the party. Pretty typical of me as I invited everyone to the party. In the middle of celebrating, I looked up and spied him (wearing a sweater. In July.) walking toward our group. Another friend noticed and asked about him. I said, "Oh that's Charlie's friend." I greeted him and made introductions.
Throughout the evening, three people told me they liked him, and I should date him. I was like really? But began to look at him through different eyes.
He kept coming back. And I kept saying yes. And finally on April Fool's Day, he proposed.
I made him ask me again on April 2—just to be sure.

Happy Valentine's Day! 
 Bug Stuff…and Other Stories: Three hilarious sweet meet stories (you never know how you'll meet the love of your life), includes ~ "Just Desserts": a political dinner gone disastrous brings together a reluctant attendee and her seat-mate. "Bug Stuff": An accountant unites with his co-worker to fight a pesky adversary. "With This Ring":When a wife forgets her little black dress, all turns into something utterly romantic and unforgettable in the end.
Find Bug Stuff…and Other Stories at: AMAZON
BARNES AND NOBLE
SMASHWORDS

Find Vicki at: http://vickibatman.blogspot.com
 
Want to party? Launch party for Bug Stuff…and Other Stories is today!! JOIN THE FUN AT: LAUNCH PARTY 
 
When did your sweetie propose to you?
Be sure to include your email address with your comments!
 

Cupid Comes Calling - Kelly L Lee

Hey everyone! I'm honored to kick off the Cupid Comes Calling Blog Hop. The first story about meeting a "forever love" that flashed through my brain is a real-life account directly from my grandfather. One of my favorite things would be to climb up on his bed while he watched TV in his recliner in the bedroom. I'd ask him, "Big Daddy, tell me the story of how you met Big Mama."  (Yes, I really called them Big Mama and Big Daddy, and yes, I'm from the South.)

Anyway, he would grin really big, kick back in the chair, and tell me this story....

I was 18  years old working as a supervisor on the fifth floor at Swift & Co.  in 1930. I remember walking down to the other end of the building, I don't remember why, and that's when I saw her. She was standing at this big industrial sink peeling onions. Tears streamed down her face. I joked years later that she was crying when I met her, and been crying ever since! Anyway, I'd seen her around, and never paid that much attention by this time, there wasn't anybody else near us.

Well, I walked right up to her and said, "My name is Claude Adams. I've seen you around here, and I've been meaning to ask, would you like to go to the picture show with me some time?"
She wiped her eyes with her sleeve and cocked her head to one side, and asked me, "What  was your name again?"
I replied, '"Claude Adams."
She nodded once and politely said, "I don't think so, but thank you just the same."
I thanked her anyway, and went on my way.

A few days later, I had borrowed a friend's car, a fancy new 1929 Chrysler, and was at the local gas station. I was dressed up in the only suit I had; I was on my way to pick up a date that evening. Lucile and some of her girlfriends were in a car driving past me, and zoomed  into the same gas station, one of her friends asked, to no one in particular, "Who is that fella over there?"
I heard Lucile answer, "Why that's Claude Adams."

The next day  at work, I made my way down to where I found her peeling onions, and there she was in the same place. I asked her one more time, "Lucile, will you go out with me?"
This time, she gave me a bright smile that I'll never forget, and she said, "Yes."

Our first date was on Valentine's night 1930, and we dated pretty regular for the next 3 years. Our dates were mostly sitting in front of the nickelodeon watching people go by. Back then, most dates were chaperoned, but I remember one time we got caught kissing in the backseat of my car by her brothers. Luckily, I'd already met them once or twice, but I knew right then, I'd better make good friends with them because those boys were big! When I did finally propose, I did it at work in the same spot I first asked her to go out with me. Just like Lucile did at the beginning, she didn't answer me at first  but made me wait a few days. When I finally go a hold of her a few days later, I asked her, "Well, what are you gonna do?"

She replied, "We're getting married October 7th." And so it was. After we got married, as all married people do, we got into an occasional argument here and there. When we did, I'd go outside to mow the lawn and she'd sit down at the sewing machine that sat near the window. I'd make 3 or 4 passes past the window, where she was working, and she'd pretend not to notice me. When I knew she couldn't hold out much longer, I'd stop the mower by the window and make funny faces right at her. She tried to ignore me, but she would eventually break down and smile and wave me away with a flick of her hand. I knew if I could make her smile, every thing would be alright. Boy oh boy, she was a corker.

After 67 years of marriage, Big Daddy died in April 2000. I stood up and read this story at his funeral. I'll never forget the experience, and the honor I felt at telling everyone about the way they met, and how cupid struck an arrow at Claude.

Good luck on winning the $200 gift card!

Hugs,
Kelly L Lee
www.kellyleefiction.com

Vicki Batman ~ Plotting Princesses' February Newsletter!!

 Royal News Forthcoming!      For the latest and greatest decrees from the PP gals, here's our February newsletter (info about the Cupid Comes Calling Blogtacular, too):    http://ymlp.com/zSGLOg