by Stacey Torres

Created on: March 08, 2010

It has taken me 56 years to know how to recognize true love. I have known love, had love, experienced love, given love, made love and taken love. But I had never really been in love – until now.

The realization was not sudden with blaring trumpets and flags flying wildly wherever I walked. It seeped in quietly one morning as I watched the sun rise from my bedroom window at dawn. It was not that old familiar feeling of lust or passion or of a flimsy flirtatious crush; it was a calm, soothing moment of understanding.

Our meeting was by chance, yet something we both clearly needed and yearned for at the same precise moment, and not something either of us had sought. Neither he nor I believed it was still possible or available to us, but on a lark we spoke and we came to find out that the missing piece in each other’s incomplete life was standing right in front of us. A special table was set just for the two of us; a table where we could lay down our feelings, our thoughts, our pain, our distrust and our mutual need to be the other’s comforting balm.

I had been so caught up in finding the perfect match. My blueprint had been drafted decades ago, when as a young woman, I decided the type of man who would be ideal for me. I carefully calculated his height, weight, eye and hair color, his profession, our home, and our lives together until the very end. I’ve never met such a man, and no one had ever come close to matching my early requirements; at least, no man that had ever come into my life.

The gentleman in my life now meets none of the criteria I required. The relationship came totally unexpected, yet, somehow he fits beautifully and perfectly in my life in every way.

How did I recognize it as true love? This is difficult to define, and there are so many ways I could sum this up. What stands out the most is the simplicity of the relationship; the ease in which we slipped into it together without necessarily going there, or planning to end up there.

The knowing anticipation of his call – not like that of a giddy school girl, but the anticipation much like a telepathic sixth sense.

The comfort of his voice – without pressure, without expectation, without needing anything in particular. It is a voice that comes from somewhere I’ve never visited before.

The joy of his presence – without fanfare or purpose; I simply feel at peace when we are even slightly near.

The unspoken understanding that comes between us, without practice, without trying; it simply is what it is.

How did I really know? It is still hard to put into words. But simply just not having to wonder any more; just knowing this is the one, made it very clear to  me.

Learn more about this author, Stacey Torres.
Click here to send this author comments or questions.