When was the last time you saw a shooting star?  I mean really saw a shooting star and not just maybe, sorta, kinda caught a glimpse of what quite possibly could have been a shooting star.  When was the last time you went out, laid in the cool evening grass and gazed up at the depths of space?  As your eyes adjust to the endless darkness of the night sky a slow motion explosion of stars spreads out before you.  

All of a sudden you remember just how many stars there really are and just how bright the blanket of night really is.  The Milky Way is a brush stroke from one end the world to the other.  Orion stands guard, the Big Dipper points to the North Star, and the North Star leads us all.  And if you’re really lucky (and live far enough north or south) the Northern Lights come out to play.  Like ethereal angels dancing in the rain.  

I never get tired of looking at the stars.  I can lay back and watch the sky for hours.  I find something very comforting in the night sky.  I don’t see the endless vacuum and infinite distances between points of light that I’ve been taught make up pretty much all of space.  That’s why it’s called that.  It’s just space, the absence of anything physical.  But I don’t see that. 

No, I see a web that holds the world together in a warm cocoon of light.  A wave of rays that wash over the world.  I find that very comforting.

The first time The Missus and I met was as dates to a school dance.  It was one of those ones where you set your roommate up on a blind date and vice versa.  Lots of times you would know the person you were going with or you would tell your roommate who you wanted to go with.  Other times it truly was a blind date.  This was one of the latter kinds.  Sort of.

The usual practice, at least at my school, was to have your roommate give you the name and phone number of your potential date.  Armed with only a first name, 5 digits, and the freshmen facebook (this was before the online social network) you could at least see the profile photo of your possible rendez-vous.  I had seen her before, walking across the quad, but I’d never met her.

I wanted to, though.  She was very pretty (more so now) and I was a young boy who liked pretty things.  It also didn’t hurt that she has a twin sister.  I figured that at the very least the conversation would be interesting.

I showed up with some flowers and a bottle of wine (thanks to a wise older brother).  She wasn’t ready (I’ve been waiting ever since).  I didn’t know anyone in the room and apparently I was the only one with the foresight to bring some sort of libation.  My usual plan in such a situation is to sip some liquid courage, which also serves to give me something to do during those awkward pauses in conversation.  Unfortunately, one bottle of wine doesn’t go very far when it’s split between 6 girls and their prospective dates.

Normally, this would have distracted and concerned me.  But this wasn’t a normal situation.  She was finally ready and she was beautiful.  I couldn’t take my eyes off of her.  We chatted for a bit and at some point we made our way to the dance.  We probably stopped at another small party on the way but I don’t really remember.  I was distracted.

I’ve never been one for eye contact.  I actually have to remind myself to do it.  I get really self-conscious and I feel like people can see me emotionally naked.  Not a feeling I enjoy.  But with her it wasn’t like that at all.  It was like looking up at a star filled sky and I found myself staring into her eyes (she probably found this creepy).  It was the same sensation of comfort, of being wrapped in a blanket made of points of light.  And the way her irises change colour from outside in are like the way the Norther Lights fade from green to blue to red and back (her eyes go from blue to green to gold).

It’s been almost 9 years since that night and I can still spend whole afternoons just looking into her eyes without ever feeling the need to turn away.  I don’t know what exactly makes for a great relationship but I’m pretty sure that helps.

Happy Anniversary, Missus.

~kbshea