When I fall in love…
Sep 7th 2007
Claudia DainGoddess Grins & My Life As A Plebe
it will be forever.
Or that’s the hope.
But even if it doesn’t last forever, I’m guessing that each of us has fallen in love at least once. There’s the first time. That amazing, stomach falling upward into your heart first time. You know what I mean. Maybe it was in grade school. Maybe it was at summer camp. Maybe it wasn’t until you were working your first job. But sometime, somewhere, you fell in love for the first time and you’ll never forget it.
Everyone talks about their first love, but today I want to know about the last time you fell in love.
The last time I fell in love it was summer and I was in the Colorado Rockies. He saw me and I saw him. He liked what he saw and I liked what I saw. He asked me to lunch. We talked and talked and talked. I won’t say I fell in love at first sight, but I did fall in love at first conversation.
While we were lingering over lunch, he asked me out for the following week and I said yes before the words were out of his mouth. This one, I thought, might be a keeper.
We were married a year later. That was 27 years ago, and he’s still my favorite person to talk to. I stil like the way he looks.
That was the last time I fell in love. What was yours? Are you one of those rare people whose first love was their last love?
44 Comments »
44 Responses to “When I fall in love…”
Lisa H on 07 Sep 2007 at 6:08 am #
The last time I fell in love was 17 years ago at a Rib Eating contest. I was cheering for my cousin and so was this tall, very good looking blonde. I noticed him and he noticed me. We talked for a while and he asked me to lunch. We had a nice lunch and then another date and then another. We spent everyday together that first year, and were married the next. I am still in love with him after all this time. We both have really grown as people and learned a lot. And incredibly, I still get butterfly’s in my stomach when I think of him, and it only takes one look from him to get me “in the mood”.
Dot C on 07 Sep 2007 at 7:19 am #
I met my Mr over the internet, and after having chatted with him for a bit really thought him the most boorish, scrawny, arrogant jackass I’d ever had the displeasure of conversing with. He called me some days later to invite me to lunch, and a stroll on the beach, and I thought to myself…hmm, maybe I was hasty!
When I did meet him, he was adorable. Funny, charming, naughty, and very sweet….with a tad of vulnerable in there too. I was hooked. We walked on a gorgeous Maine beach, one that starts as sand and then becomes rocky shoals. We kissed there, and I told him I had a 4 date rule before I allowed any real hanky panky…it was my way of feeling like I could still weed out the ones only out for a booty call. He was so funny…he called for a date every day that week !! LOL
Yesterday I visited him at work, and as I waited and watched him with a customer, I got a little breathless that this great looking guy with a GREAT ass was standing in front of me. I text messaged him
Dot C on 07 Sep 2007 at 7:25 am #
to let him KNOW I thought he had a great ass, and I saw him blush and giggle. I still fall in love with him every week…every new thoughtful thing he does surprises and delights me. His cuddly side, his dominant side, his nasty boy side, his intellectual side….they all make me gush. He’s my best friend. And, even after 5 years, we still have the most AMAZING sex life. I did also notice that when I need a little private adult time, when I fantasize, he’s the face. In alot of the romance books I read….his face is behind your characters too. We share your books together sometimes..he does that for me the same way I’ve tried to get into Red Sox baseball for him. Needless to say, he likes the juicy bits in the romance books. I like Manny. LOL.
We’re hoping for another 5 years like these.
Dot
Kay on 07 Sep 2007 at 7:46 am #
The last time I fell in live was 21 years ago in Baltimore, walking along the water front, and talking with my (now) Dh about books.
We still share the love of books.
Karen Rose on 07 Sep 2007 at 7:49 am #
Depends, Claudia. Those foolish crushes on boys who didn’t know I was alive sure felt like unrequited love
But the first real love - mine has lasted more than 25 years. And yes, I still like to talk to him and I like the way he looks. DH has a cute derrierre.
Lisa H on 07 Sep 2007 at 8:04 am #
These are great stories…I can’t wait to log in later and read the rest!
terrio on 07 Sep 2007 at 9:01 am #
These really are great stories. I’m torn between being jealous and encouraged to have faith it can still happen to me.
Darla on 07 Sep 2007 at 9:02 am #
The last time I fell in love was this morning when I kissed my DH of 28 yrs before he left for work!
Sabrina Jeffries on 07 Sep 2007 at 9:06 am #
The last time I fell in love was after I got married …
Kidding! LOL, I can see your face right now, Claudia.
Seriously, though, the last time I fell in love was at Mardi Gras in New Orleans. He was in costume as a jester with white paint all over his face; I was in costume as a harem girl. We were introduced on the street by friends and talked for half an hour while I scrambled for beads (being a longtime New Orleans native, he didn’t get my fascination with the bead thing–but it was MY first Mardi Gras). He asked if he could call me if he got my number from our friend. Later I asked him why he didn’t just ask for my number right then–he said he wanted to give me a chance to find out from my friend if he was a decent guy. Isn’t that sweet?
He took me to a Cuban restaurant on our first date and impressed me by ordering squid paella (having grown up abroad, I had trouble finding guys who were open to other cultures, especially over 20 years ago). We talked for hours. (cont.)
Sabrina Jeffries on 07 Sep 2007 at 9:07 am #
We’ve now been married for 23 wonderful years, and he still makes me laugh. He drives me crazy … but he makes me laugh. And he “gets” me, which is the most important thing.
Dot C on 07 Sep 2007 at 9:09 am #
Karen R…aren’t great behinds the BOMB? My mr is definitely a looker, and I do get great joy out of thinking, that’s right girlfriend, look at all that GREAT package, and sigh. It belongs to ME!! LOL, sort of a sadistic side there, but I’m the bbw, and it feels great to know that there are some things in the world that barbie doll looks can’t get you.
Dot C on 07 Sep 2007 at 9:15 am #
Sabrina!!!! You were trying to get beads??? OMG, you NASTY NASTY girl!!
LOL, I’ve got mine hanging from my car mirror.
It’s so wonderful when you find someone you don’t have to sacrifice your interests to be with. Someone who can actually share that. I never thought to find it, and was delighted when MR, who presents his gruff, sports talking, car interested persona to the world actually ended up LOVING Andrew LLoyd Weber and Phantom, as well as Joseph, and JCS. Who would have thunk it?
LOL…
The other thing that I so love about him is that he continually pushes me to think and act outside of my comfort zone…and I’ve experienced so much I would never have considered otherwise without him cattle prodding me. It’s been a weird, sometimes scary, but always enjoyable trip.
Claudia Dain on 07 Sep 2007 at 9:48 am #
Oh, I love these stories!!! Keep ‘em coming, girls!
Is it me or does it seem like these “last love” stories are quicker? That it didn’t take months and months to figure it out?
gannon on 07 Sep 2007 at 10:12 am #
This may qualify as one of those stories where my first love was my last. I met my DH in high school (many moons ago) and the first time I saw him, I fell hard. Maybe it could be classified as puppy love, since I was 15, but it sure didn’t feel like it. He was 2 years older than me; we never officially dated, but there were a few kisses in there.
Anyway, several years and loves later, we reconnected….literally and figuratively!
And the rest they say is history. Nineteen years of marriage and three kids later, I still think he’s the sexiest man ever! He still makes my heart beat faster after all these years. We are so lucky to feel that way!!
There’s a line from a George Benson song that describes how he makes me feel:
“I wish I knew the one thing it was. It’s more like a thousand things that all adds up to love. Sometimes I look when you don’t see, and a wave of affection comes washing over me.”
That says it all! BTW, I love everyone’s stories!
Claudia Dain on 07 Sep 2007 at 10:31 am #
I’m not sure I even believe in puppy love. It’s one of those ‘walks like a duck’ questions for me. If it feels like love, isn’t it love?
I know I feel this way because my mom, that wise woman, said to me when I first fell in love, “I’m not going to insult you by saying this is puppy love. You’re in love. You’re really in love, no matter how old you are.”
So, Gannon, it was love, twu wuv.
gannon on 07 Sep 2007 at 10:44 am #
Yes, Claudia. It was love, twu wuv, which led to mawwiage!
Sabrina Jeffries on 07 Sep 2007 at 11:16 am #
Dot, sheesh, get your mind out of the gutter!
Contrary to popular opinion, you do not have to … er … lower your bodice to get beads at Mardi Gras. They throw them to everyone willy-nilly. You end up with truckloads of them. Those sorority girls who show their … ahem … attractions are just trying to get the really GOOD beads–the big flashy ones (and no, I’ve never done that–I’m not quite THAT naughty). But ordinary Mardi Gras beads are very easy to come by.
Thank goodness, since that’s what my son loves to play with. Now that we’ve moved, I actually have to BUY them from a Mardi Gras supply store. Sigh.
Karen Rose on 07 Sep 2007 at 11:20 am #
Mr. R continually pushes me out of my comfort zone. One notable event was the day he came home with a $0.25 paperback from the used bookstore titled, “How To Market Your Romance Novel.” I’d been writing in hush-hush secret for years - how would it be if my engineering colleagues knew I wrote (sshh) romance? My writing was my guilty little pleasure, intended for my eyes alone.
But DH gave me the book and said, “You spend so much time on this, do something with it.”
So after much humina-humina-ing, I did.
Voila! Ten years after he brought home that little hot pink paperback marketing book, here I am. I still have the book, and I still have the husband who never lets me forget how proud he is of me.
(okay, sniffling because of hormones. Gotta go get a tissue…)
Kathryn Smith on 07 Sep 2007 at 11:48 am #
Last time I fell in love was two nights ago when the dh made me laugh until I thought my sides were going to burst (I’ve been in a bad way lately) and then took my face in his hands and told me I was ’such a pretty girl.’ He means it, even when he can see my pores and lines and blotchy bits.
Oh, and yes he has a great butt. lol.
Karen, my dh did almost the same thing. I’d been writing and working in an awful job and he talked me into going back to university and “writing that book.” So I did. And it sold. He’s been my biggest fan ever since.
Tracy Kay on 07 Sep 2007 at 12:26 pm #
The last time I fell in love was in 8th grade. It lasted until about 6 months after we graduated highschool. I know it sounds crazy that I fell in love in middle school, but it’s true. Ken was the love of my life for 6 years - the kind of love where you love that person for everything that made them who they are today. I loved him because his dad chased his mom around the kitchen and tickled her to tears when she didnt rinse something before she put it in the dishwasher, because his dogs name was MacGyver….They were the craziest things but they only made me love him more.
We havent talked for a couple of years and I miss him a lot, but we’ve gone our separate ways. I still smile when I think of him, and I can’t find it in my heart to regret any of the times we shared together. I have faith that I’ll find my mystery dream man someday.
:o)
Claudia Dain on 07 Sep 2007 at 12:31 pm #
TracyK, when your first love is as powerful and lovely as that, your last love is going to rock the universe!
Why would anyone regret love? Even if it doesn’t end at the grave, it’s still a gift. I’ve (ahem) been in love more times than I care to count, but each one was real and wonderful and I remember each of them with a smile.
I also remember their birthdays and middle names! A mind like a sieve on most things (my yahoo password?) but I can remember lots of now useless details on my past loves.
Ladytink_534 on 07 Sep 2007 at 12:37 pm #
The last person I fell in love with was indeed my husband. We love one another and he spoils me rotten. What more could I want? He wasn’t my first love but he will be my last.
Caren Crane on 07 Sep 2007 at 12:42 pm #
The last time I fell in love was June, 1988. My now-dh and I had been friends for a very long year in college and both ended up in the same summer session of a really boring engineering class. We studied together, along with another friend of ours. Over the course of the 8-week seesion, the chemistry got a bit overwhelming and our study threesome became a twosome. We went on our first date to an amusement park, where he learned I can’t ride any teacup-type rides. *g*
By the time we started really dating, we knew each other very well and had spent many hours together as friends. He was the only man I dated who I was friends with. We are still friends, though we have both grown and changed a lot over the years. While chemistry can grow less volatile over time (thank goodness!), friendship really lasts.
DebMarlowe on 07 Sep 2007 at 1:36 pm #
I think I fell in love at first dance. I met my dh at a Halloween party. We talked and it was nice, but something happened during that first slow dance. Somehow I *knew* deep down in my bones, that this was Something Good. And a few days later, the first kiss sealed the deal!
Nicole Jordan on 07 Sep 2007 at 1:41 pm #
I’ll admit to having an infatuation in college — One of those “lightning strikes” things that was pure hormones. But it didn’t touch my heart. It was only a few years later that I discovered real love, and luckily for me it’s lasted!
Dh is my love, best friend, lover, and hero all rolled into one.
NicoleJ
darkshire007 on 07 Sep 2007 at 1:50 pm #
I read all of this and wonder….how do you know? My husband is my friend. We talk a lot. But that’s it. On the other hand, we can sit in the same room for HOURS (he is usually watching TV and I’m reading a book) and not say a word. We’re comfortable. I do think I love him; I worry when he’s late home from work. I try to do all the things that make someone comfortable and content. But he doesn’t say the “I love you” to me in any shape or form. We just go along. He makes a suggestion and I usually go along with it; why make waves. Right now he is out with another agent, a female agent, without his wedding ring. It spends most of it’s time on the glass dish I bought to put rings on so they don’t get lost. And it doesn’t bother me. So what exactly does that say? Okay, you made me cry with all your writings. See y’all tomorrow.
Claudia Dain on 07 Sep 2007 at 2:15 pm #
How do you know? A friend once said to me when I was in the 4th year of a very deep love, “Is this someone you can live with or someone you can’t live without?”
I married the man I can’t live without, even though I know I could survive without him, but you know what I mean. The “this is it” guy. The “life’s no good without you” guy. The guy we romance writers keep giving to our heroines.
I don’t think love has to be wine and roses, Darkshire, it just has to be love the way you need it.
ladydawgfan on 07 Sep 2007 at 2:32 pm #
I’m shedding a few tears myself. And I admit to being a bit jealous. At 43, I’ve never experienced true love, and these stories, plus my parents 49 year marriage let me know what I am missing. Will it ever happen for me? At this point, it’s doubtful, but I’m willing to settle for comfortable camaraderie rather than risk my greatest fear - spending the rest of my life alone without ever experiencing the closeness of male companionship.
catslady on 07 Sep 2007 at 3:20 pm #
Guilty - first and last. Met him 38 yrs. ago in high school - he was a new kid who had traveled the world and I had never gone anywhere. I was 18 and he was 20 when we got married.
Ellen in Love on 07 Sep 2007 at 3:32 pm #
LadyDawgFan…You are far too sweet for some great guy NOT to notice. You always make me laugh and I appreciate your keen insight. At the risk of sounding like Dr. Phil, you just have to do the things that make you really happy. Then find the people who like to do the same things. I know it’s not easy, but true love is so worth it.
I am on year 23 with my hubby. We were fighting this morning, but this Blog has him SOOO off the hook…he just doesn’t know it yet!
Thank you all for the smiles and tears.
Karen…I gotta get me one of those “little pink books.”
Keri Ford on 07 Sep 2007 at 3:42 pm #
I last fell in love 7 years ago in high school. Three months later at christmas time, we both knew we’d get married. Three years later we did, and this month we’ll be celebrating our 4 years together.
How do I know it’s love? Because my husband will often tell me, “You’re going to be in loads of trouble if we ever divorce, because I promise you there’s not another person out there who’ll put up with you.”
I laugh and reply, “You knew that when you married me.”
Before I met my DH, I had thought I’d been love, a couple of times. looking back now, I realize that had been my hormones talking.
J Perry Stone on 07 Sep 2007 at 3:43 pm #
Darkshire and Ladydawgfan,
You made my heart hurt.
Darkshire said : “I try to do all the things that make someone comfortable and content.” I think giving of yourself to someone else means you love them. I went to a bookstore talk last night and the speaker said (a Buddhist nun actually) “Love makes you happy, but love is not a person. Love is a feeling inside of you that you can nurture and direct towards anyone (even your dh).”
And I doubt any one of us has been able to maintain the butterflies in the stomach feeling for ALL our relationship life. Hell, how could I when mine farts and snores all the time (thank God he isn’t here to tell you what I do)?
Ladydawgfan, don’t you ever say this again: “Will it ever happen for me? At this point, it’s doubtful,” What that is is BS because of two things: 1. 43 is young! and 2. you have to be positive. Pretend it at first and it will become habit. Positivity is an aphrodisiac.
J Perry Stone on 07 Sep 2007 at 3:49 pm #
And I hope I didn’t offend you smart ladies. My intention was to help.
Claudia Dain on 07 Sep 2007 at 4:01 pm #
Hang on!! Love WILL come. It does. It’s just sometimes a bit slow.
Karen Rose on 07 Sep 2007 at 4:54 pm #
I once had a good friend who asked how you know it’s real. I found myself thinking of the words to the Clint Black song - “Something That We Do.”
I heard him interviewed and he said he remembered a teacher once saying that LOVE is not a noun, but a verb. So the song says, love isn’t something that we have, that we find, or that we’re in, but it’s “Something that we do.”
The part of the song I love best is:
We help to make each other all that we can be
Though we can find our strength and inspiration independently
The way we work together is what sets our love apart
So closely that you can’t tell where I end and where you start
That merging together so that you’re not two, but better than two, and alone you’re not one, but you’re more than you would be without him.
Karen Rose on 07 Sep 2007 at 4:55 pm #
I was trying to explain this to a book wholesaler at a dinner once. I floundered with the words, then finally said, “TV is more interesting when I watch it with my husband. The sun just shines brighter.”
She sighed real big and said, “That’s why I love working with romance writers!”
Brandy on 07 Sep 2007 at 4:56 pm #
My last love IS my first love. I guess I fall in the rarity category! *G* He was my HS sweeteart, we were married after I graduated and it’s been 14 years since then. 14 years, and 2 children, I would not trade for anything in the world.
krystal on 07 Sep 2007 at 5:00 pm #
I met my first love my senior year of high school. We didn’t start dating until 3 months before graduation. He was cute and funny and very sweet, and I figured that we’d be broken up by summer anyways, so why not have some fun? Five and half years later, we’re still together and I find a new reason to fall in love with him everyday.
krystal on 07 Sep 2007 at 5:02 pm #
This is a great topic Claudia. I always love hearing about people falling in love. I guess that’s why I love romance novels so much.
Claudia Dain on 07 Sep 2007 at 5:15 pm #
I love hearing falling in love stories, too, Krystal. It just always gives me a lift. I’m of the hopeful nature that believes that, no matter how long it takes, True Love is out there waiting for us.
Dot C on 07 Sep 2007 at 7:57 pm #
Sabrina…I, err… I umm, KNEW you could just ask for them!!
LOL, when I lived in Philly, they used to hang them from the trees, and make you jump for them…that was fun.
Someone had asked about a JR Ward release date. Her latest title will be Lover Unbound, and the Street Date (on sale date) is 9/25/07
You guys have some really great longterm love stories. It restores faith that it can happen with lots of work, and a great sense of humor. I wish more people could read your great stories and be inspired by them!
Dot
TheNightPoet on 07 Sep 2007 at 11:07 pm #
All you goddesses stories of love made me say “aww” so much while reading them.
They were inspiring and made me feel warm and fuzzy on the inside. I love all your stories. 
I have not fallen in love yet, but I’m sure it will happen. I’m not worried that it won’t. 
Andrea
pri.r. on 08 Sep 2007 at 7:08 am #
aww… you goddesses are soo romantic… why read romance when you’ve all quite obviously got it at home
though i’m not certain if i’ll ever find love, i’ve at least been ‘given hope’ from reading all your wonderful stories … keep them coming! 
i on the other hand have never fallen in love… i’m 16 so ladies scoff at will
TinaLouiseF on 08 Sep 2007 at 8:50 pm #
Never been. Can count on one hand the number of dates I’ve been on and have fingers left over.