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Recently, a gray haired man walked up to me in a crowded room. Since I'm legally blind, it was hard to see who it could possibly be, until he got close enough for me to clearly see who he once was to me. He was everything. Kevin was my first love, so immediately I knew it was true. He kept the promise he made to me, so long ago. "If I live to be 103, I'll never forget you."

Since then, I found a quote by someone unknown who expressed what I said to Kevin best. "Never forget me, because if I thought you would, I'd never leave." You see, I've come to believe that we aren't meant to end up with our first love. Even so, they remain who we see in our minds when we try to define love. That's why I decided to write a tribute to him today and at my age. A tribute seems to be the only thing I can do to say, "Thank you," to someone who taught me how to recognize love later on. How strange it seems to feel so grateful today for the boy who loved me in eighth grade. I would have thanked him sooner, but time seems to fly by so quickly, and besides, at the time I was too blind to see the gift he gave to me.

We were only thirteen. It was 1969, a time when romantic love was new through my eyes, but when my eyes met Kevin's for the first time, I knew it was true what they say about love at first sight. I loved him right away, and it was obvious to me that he loved me too. We were destined to meet, I just knew, so there we stood, gazing into each other's eyes at one of those boy- girl parties where we gathered with our friends to sit, talk, dance and be as romantic as pre-teens could be in 1969, an innocent time. As I recall we were thirteen, so counting back from today, that would seem to be an eternity ago. Still, I remember those eyes of his as if it had been just yesterday when I looked into them. I'm sure that's why I recognized him when his eyes met mine again and the girl I was back then must be why they say, "love is blind."

We had our first kiss that night in 1969. With parents out of sight, a boy and girl could sneak a kiss now and then. Otherwise, if we were shy, the boy and girl would sit on separate sides of the room, gazing into each other's eyes through a terrified view. Since I was shy, he walked up to me back then, the same way he did when I saw him again. Then again, he was always a gentleman..

Not exactly a Prince Charming type, he was awkward with his height. His feet were too big and his clothes didn't fit, but he seemed to be an angel in disguise. Since he

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