by Marsupial

Created on: May 29, 2008

It was the sloppiest, most poorly-executed kiss I'd ever been given. It was simultaneously the sweetest and most profound kiss my husband and I have ever shared. And it was our first.

He stepped off the plane wearing the red "Property of Alpha and Omega" shirt I bought him and a pair of sunglasses. We had been pen-pals for seven years. This was the day we would finally meet.

His computer crashed shortly after we became friends in a chat group online. I started sending him letters not knowing if they reached him and eventually stated that this would be the last. A few days later, I received a reply. The letters became more frequent as we led our separate lives across the country from each other. I dated and asked his advice on men. He listened and secretly grew more interested while keeping his mouth shut about my poor relationship choices.

Then came the cassette tape. I recorded some music on my piano, let my 3 year old niece have a few words, and babbled to fill the rest of it. With about 3 minutes left in my "audio-letter", I decided to share my religious beliefs. Knowing he was not of the same faith, I didn't know whether I'd lose my pen-pal forever. He waited 3 weeks and finally gave me a call. He'd listened to the tape again and again, until he finally just kept rewinding the last 3 minutes. He had been brought up with the truth but had set it aside long ago. We were on the phone for 9 hours the night he accepted Christ. It was the most beautiful experience of my life and his.

We then exchanged video tapes. He set a camera in the passenger seat of his car and took me on a tour of Huntsville, Alabama. I returned the favor by taping my hometown in California and added a family trip to Oregon. We virtually began to hang out with each other. His favorite part of my video was simply eating lunch with him. I set the camera on the opposite side of the table and proceeded to have a conversation over the phone with him while I ate my sandwich. He fell in love with the way I picked at and rearranged my food. Likewise, I fell in love with the last few moments on his tape, where he played a few familiar classic rock songs on his guitar. Soon afterward, we were engaged. Our friendship had grown over the years and we knew each other in every way except face-to-face.

Smiling, he walked right up to me. Anxious to meet him, I peered into his sunglasses to get a glimpse of his eyes and before I knew it, I was being kissed. It was a long, passionate, face-bumping, slobbery kiss and we both cried on the way to the baggage claim. We celebrated seven years of marriage this April.

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