In Honor of St. Valentine

Although it's much more Glo-like to rant about my disillusionment with love, I decided to honor all of the other people who have found that magic that so eludes me. I was thinking about all the great real life love stories that I've heard in my life and have chosen a winner.

My second year of college, my best friends lived off-campus in a dingy little 1-bedroom apartment. My friend, Amanda, was the freest spirit I had ever known. She felt everything fully, loved with her whole heart, and never closed her mouth or stopped an impulse.

Jeff lived downstairs. He was quiet, kind, reserved, and cautious with his heart. The two opposites attracted immediately - as friends. From the first week, one never saw Amanda without Jeff, but both denied anything more than friendship.

I remember the day Amanda fell in love with Jeff. He came upstairs to tell us about a friend that he had helped. It was a non-memorable story, but its impact on Amanda was odd. She was quiet. She said nothing.

When Jeff left, she burst into tears. "I'm in love with him," she blurted. That was Amanda. In one moment, her whole world could change.

Amanda could no longer hang out with her best friend. She stayed busy. When he was around, she felt odd and inhibited. She couldn't laugh around him anymore. And she always cried when he left.

A few weeks later, Jeff came upstairs to tell us that his old girlfriend had come into his life and he was thinking of proposing to her. Amanda quietly slipped out of the room. Jeff left. We waited for Amanda to tell us what she needed. Instead, she strode out of her room looking like fire personate. She left the apartment. A moment later, we heard the door downstairs open.

I don't remember talking. We ate some chips and waited. Five minutes later, Amanda came back upstairs. She sobbed at the table. "I walked in and I kissed him. I said I loved him. I asked him to marry me." She sobbed and sobbed.

We all stared at her aghast. We were only 19 years old. None of us had ever done anything so bold. We had no advice. Amanda cried for days.

I was sitting in the living room of their apartment a few days later when Jeff came in. "Where's Amanda?" he asked, anxiously. I shrugged. He looked upset and sat down. Then he stood up and left without another word.

Amanda came in a while later. I told her that Jeff had been looking for her. She went downstairs. Amanda came back upstairs an engaged woman. Jeff had realized that he couldn't live without his best friend. "And she's a very good kisser," he told us later.

They've been married now for 9 years and have 3 kids. When I stop believing in love, I remember Jeff and Amanda. I think they could melt the heart of any cynic.