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Best Thing That Happened to Me

I’m not the kind of man who needs a woman. I never have been, nor do I think I ever will be. There was one woman though, or girl I should say.

I was sixteen, played football, wrestled, drank, smoked grass, and lived in Indianapolis. It was October of my junior year in high school. My best friend, Carey, was dating a girl from a local Catholic high school, and she was dead-set on finding me a girlfriend. She would set me up on a blind date almost every weekend, often without my knowing. Then one weekend, quite by accident, she introduced me to the love of my life.

Friday night, my football team lost our first game of the season. We normally had practice on Saturday morning, but our coach was so angry with us that he told us he couldn’t stand to see our faces the next morning. So we had Saturday off for the first time in ten weeks and I went with Carey to watch his girlfriend’s volleyball team play. At the game, I was introduced to Erin.

I know I met her then, but I don’t remember it. I was pretty upset about losing the night before; when you’re sixteen and being hailed as possible state champions, it seems like the world has ended with your first loss.

Apparently Erin thought my friend and I were funny and somehow or another she ended up coming out with us that night. It was late October so we went to a Haunted House in the basement of an old warehouse on the East side of Indy. It was a little chilly out and there was a slight drizzle. We had to stand outside in an alley for about twenty minutes, and there was one small light over the door. Erin reached up, grabbed my ball cap, and put it on her own head. I’m a big guy and she was quite petite, so this oversized hat on such a small girl was quite a comical image, but in an instant I caught her eyes and fell in love.

I fell for a pair of blue eyes, an angelic face, and a sweet voice.

We dated for a while, but it was difficult. Her parents made it nearly impossible for me to see her. Then I started getting in trouble, and had a harder time convincing my parents to let me see her, or anyone else for that matter. We’ve stayed in touch over the years, but the distance has always been impossible.

She went to college in Chicago. I moved to Atlanta.

She was the best thing that could have happened to me, and I wonder if I’ll ever find anyone else who touches me in that way.

I don’t think I’ll ever stop loving her.