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Authors: Colleen Sell

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A Cup of Comfort for Couples

A
CUP
OF
COMFORT
®
for
Couples

Stories that celebrate
what it means to be in
Love

Edited by Colleen Sell

Copyright © 2011 by F+W Media, Inc.
All rights reserved. This book, or parts thereof, may not be
reproduced in any form without permission from the publisher;
exceptions are made for brief excerpts used in published reviews.

A Cup of Comfort
®
is a registered trademark of F+W Media, Inc.

Published by
Adams Media, a division of F+W Media, Inc.
57 Littlefield Street, Avon, MA 02322 U.S.A.
www.adamsmedia.com
and
www.cupofcomfort.com

ISBN 10: 1-4405-0200-5
ISBN 13: 978-1-4405-0200-2
eISBN 10: 1-4405-0908-5
eISBN 13: 978-1-4405-0908-7

Printed in the United States of America.

1 0 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
is available from the publisher.

This publication is designed to provide accurate and authoritative infor-mation with regard to the subject matter covered. It is sold with the understanding that the publisher is not engaged in rendering legal, accounting, or other professional advice. If legal advice or other expert assistance is required, the services of a competent professional person should be sought.

— From a
Declaration of Principles
jointly adopted by
a Committee of the American Bar Association and
a Committee of Publishers and Associations

Many of the designations used by manufacturers and sellers to distinguish their products are claimed as trademarks. Where those designations appear in this book and Adams Media was aware of a trademark claim, the designations have been printed with initial capital letters.

This book is available at quantity discounts for bulk purchases.
For information, please call 1-800-289-0963.

For Geronimo: the love of my midlife . . . and the rest of my life

Contents

Acknowledgments •

Introduction •

Supersized Love • Samantha Ducloux Waltz

The Secret of Rugged Terrain • Shawnelle Eliasen

First Love • Phyllis Jardine

Matchmaker • Ariella Golani

My Other Husband • Tina Wagner Mattern

Heart and Sole • Carolyn Huhn-Sullivan

A Love Worth Waiting For • Jann Mitchell-Sandstrom

The Anniversary Gift • Kelly Wilson

Come Rain or Come Shine • Judy L. Adourian

The Taming of the Green-Eyed Monster • Ande Cardwell

Three Little Words • Madeleine M. Kuderick

When His and Hers Becomes Ours • Tina Lincer

As Long as Forever • Suzanne Endres

The Almost-Proposal • Felice Prager

Built with Tender Loving Care • Mary E. Winter

Diving for Love • Debra Gordon Zaslow

Biscuits and Olives • Lorri McDole

Dancing with My Husband • Barbara Neal Varma

Popcorn Proposal • Michelle L. Devon

How the Funny Papers Rocked My World • Deborah Shouse

180 Seconds to a Lifetime • Gina Farella Howley

Girlfriend • Allison Maher

Intestinal Fortitude • Erika Hoffman

Café Amoré • Charmian Christie

Lost and Found • Wade Morgan

To Love Greatly • Priscilla Carr

Garlic Soup • Amy Hudock

Love Check • Patricia Ljutic

Improv at the Altar • Michele Forsten

The Romance of Ordinary Days • Annette M. Bower

Love, Italian Style • Sylvia Suriano-Diodati

Retiring Bill Pullman • Craig Idlebrook

Love and the Un-Romantic • Mary C. M. Phillips

Who Could Ask for Anything More? • Beverly Lessard

Live, Love, Laugh • Tami Absi

Love Imitates Art • Faith Paulsen

Willow Weep No More • Suzanne Yoder

Love Shack • Michelle Hozey

A Room of His Own • Annette Gendler

Wildly in Love • Cathi LaMarche

The Piece of Paper That Almost Blinded Me • Julie Clark Robinson

Lime Green and Not Deep • Nancy DeMarco

Loving Done Right • Connie Ellison

My Year in China • Liane Kupferberg Carter

The Prism • Stephanie Springsteen

A Gift for Women • Joyce Stark

The First Thing about Love • Kristi Hemingway-Weatherall

Contributors •

About the Editor •

Acknowledgments

All books are collaborative creations, but none so much as an anthology. As the anthologist of this superb collection of true stories of true love, then, I have many people to thank:

Most gratefully, the authors of the forty-eight terrific stories that grace these pages,

As well as authors of the other 2,000-plus stories submitted for this book;

The gifted and generous folks at Adams Media — especially my chief collaborator, Meredith O'Hayre;
Cup of Comfort
® creator, Paula Munier; Karen Cooper, publisher; Casey Ebert, copy chief; and Beth Gissinger, publicist;

My parents, Albert and Jeannie Sell, for sixty years of demonstrating that love really is a many-splendored thing;

And with all my heart, my lover, best friend, favorite dance partner, life partner, and husband — Nik.

Introduction


And what do all the great words come to in the
end, but
that? —
I love
you —
I am at rest with
you —
I
have come
home.”

—
Dorothy L. Sayers

W
hat is the secret to a successful marriage or romantic partnership? How do you find true love — and stay in love? Is love enough to weather life's storms, petty grievances, and foolish mistakes? Can you give your all to love without giving up your self? Does a relationship that “works” take work, or does it come naturally, easily? Do couples who live happily ever after know something or have something or do something that couples whose relationships falter or fail don't?

Those are the questions most of us ask at one time in our lives — and that some of us ask repeatedly throughout our lives. Because deep in our hearts that's what most of us want: to love and to be loved by that one special someone.

So those are the questions we posed when we cast the net for true stories about couples who were truly, madly, deeply in love . . . or perhaps simply comfortable and content with and committed to one another. We asked couples to show us what true love, a good relationship, and a happy marriage look and feel like — to show us what makes them tick, together. So they did. From the more than 2,000 true stories of true love we received, we gathered the best into this book.

A Cup of Comfort
®
for Couples
gives you an inside look into the hearts and lives of forty-eight couples. I hope their stories will delight, inspire, and move you.

—
Colleen Sell

Supersized Love

M
y heart skipped three beats when the phone rang and I saw Ray's name on caller ID. Would it be a concert at Washington Park? A starlit run in Portland's west hills? A bike ride out to the beach at Sauvie Island?

“Samantha?” His deep, warm voice raised goose bumps on my arms.

“I know this is late notice, but are you free tonight?”

It was late notice, but I wanted to see him.

When I met Ray at a summer singles'–club dance, his hazel eyes, crooked smile, and lean but muscular physique immediately caught my attention. He invited me to hike the Eagle Creek Trail in the Columbia Gorge for our first date, and I shivered with excitement. Tickets to a Bruce Springsteen concert prompted a perfect second date. What would he entice me with this time? Every woman knows third dates can often be turning points in relationships.

“How about meeting me at Costco for dinner?” Ray asked with the same lilt in his voice I'd have expected if he were inviting me to dine at the posh Harborside on the Willamette River.

I sank into a chair, unable for a moment to say anything. Was he kidding?

“I need to pick up some things for a catering job. They have a great Polish dog. Pizza or chicken wraps if you'd like that better.”

He wasn't kidding. I have a Costco card and appreciate the prices, the quality, and the easy return policy as much as anyone. But a big cement warehouse with everything in supersize for a third date? Where were the candles? The music? Would he reach across a display of Sonicare toothbrushes to take my hand?

“Sure. I'll meet you there,” I said, focusing on those hazel eyes and ignoring a fluttering of disappointment in my chest.

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