You Had Me At Constantly

It's Valentine's Day 2007.

The first one in ages that I could actually celebrate with a certain someone. The first time in ages I've stopped at the card rack to read Hallmark schmaltz. The first time in forever that I felt cutesy cards were inadequate to describe my Valentine's Day.
It is not memorable because it's our first Valentine's Day together.
The fact is, we're not together.
We are geographically seven hundred miles apart.
And yet somehow, we are together.

There is a guy in New England whom I adore.
You know him. But you do not know him as I have come to know him in the past few months - a personality with complicated layers of serious intelligence, passionate convictions and an endless supply of laughter. We do not always agree on everything philosophically but that has proven to be refreshing and challenging.

I am concerned - as my grandfather once said to me - with what beats on the inside and how closely the walk matches the talk.
You may have noticed that he is not one to mince words. What you may not know is how carefully he chooses them. I respect that and have learned that he means what he says.

Can you keep a secret?

I wouldn't want him to know, but a while back I decided to "research" his site chronologically from start to finish. I wanted to find out what makes him tick. How many people do you know who've recorded forty years of their life online for all to see? I've never gathered that much insight into anyone I dated before I actually met them. How unusual.
It was perfect! And it was unsettling........

I did not expect to fall in love with a blog.


He had a handsome boyish charm about him that reeked of mischief and intrigued me (shhhh....that's the secret). A certain consistency and confidence I was drawn to. I continued to read until I'd finished over 200 articles. In between the pages of blog posts about crazy parties and DJ stunts, dating disasters and semi-sarcastic humor there were tributes to his children and touching posts of honest emotion. There were photographs from the seventies - that was my time, too - that seemed to weave a nostalgic familiarity for me. He was more than someone I wanted to get to know. He was someone I liked.

Well, truth be told....there was that tight jeans picture that might have swayed my rational thinking for just a minute. But I digress.

In the most unlikely of places I stumbled into someone who makes me feel like his Valentine every day. He totally gets me.

And we met on a blog.

Our relationship is not convenient. It is not ordinary. It is not the usual dating scenario. But we are just crazy enough - and creative enough - to make it work. We also know that this kind of "accidental meeting" does not happen everyday. Nor does this uncanny connection. To ignore the possibilities would be insane.

Timing - for us- has been incredibly perfect in every respect. Even, at times, mysteriously so. And tonight was no different.

Just as I was writing my Valentine's Day post and struggling with the question of how much to share with the blog world, wondering if he would welcome it or squirm to see a juvenile mushy post from his very grown-up lady, he called.

After some lengthy conversation about the day's events he said, "I've been working on a special project. I want you to see the project I've been working on all evening."
Imagine my surprise when he told me about a post he'd written.
About us. Boldly penned. For Valentine's Day. Just for me.
In front of the world.

"I just published it," he said.
(Now girlfriends.....how long do you think it took me to fly over to his site?)
He titled it My Valentine's Story.
He held the phone.
I read it.

I cried.

Not because it is Valentine's Day sweet. Not because it is romantic - although it certainly is. Not even because it is thoughtful and well-said and brave - it is all those things. But because the real life person spoke to me, Mimi Lenox, from his heart. Like he always does.

Way back in the beginning I wasn't sure if my Prince was flirting with me or not. At first glance I wasn't sure we had enough in common fundamentally or philosophically to even risk a flirt. It wasn't until I started to get to know him as someone other than  the Irreverent Humor Blog persona, that I realized how much we indeed had in common. Then late one night in a phone conversation I paused and asked..... "Are you flirting with me?"
In that deep radio voice I've grown to love he replied,
"Constantly."

Happy Valentine's Day, my Prince. You had me at constantly.
And to answer your question....Yes, I will be your Valentine.
What a silly question.