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.
â 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
Supersized Love ⢠Samantha Ducloux Waltz
The Secret of Rugged Terrain ⢠Shawnelle Eliasen
First Love ⢠Phyllis Jardine
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
Intestinal Fortitude ⢠Erika Hoffman
Café Amoré ⢠Charmian Christie
Lost and Found ⢠Wade Morgan
To Love Greatly ⢠Priscilla Carr
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
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
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 â 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 â Nik.
Introduction
“
And what do all the great words come to in the
end, but
that? â
I love
you â
I am at rest with
you â
I
have come
home.”
â
Dorothy L. Sayers
W
hat is the secret to a successful marriage or romantic partnership? How do you find true love â 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 â 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 â 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.
â
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'âclub 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.