A Valentine's Day Love Story: How I Met My Husband

A Yellow Piece of Paper and a Valentine

Bruce and I met over five years ago when I was his pharmacy technician. We met at a time when I was concentrating on repenting of a personality flaw I'd established through my lifetime.

I had a habit of instantly devaluing the disabled, the underprivileged, or the undereducated. I was intent on rehabilitating that behavior. At my first encounter with Bruce, I had been abandoned by the entire pharmacy staff and was left to deal with him alone. He was an outwardly angry man and a difficult customer.

He was a stroke victim and the physical effects were obvious. He struggled to make his left hand execute his signature for medications. When I offered to waive the requirement, he would not hear of it. I had many long moments to observe and reflect as he struggled. My compassion was touched, and I began to develop an admiration for the disabled as I watched him doggedly, and forthrightly, accomplish this task.

I worked in that pharmacy for one year, and I saw Bruce, perhaps, a dozen times as a customer. Occasionally, we would see each other on the bus and would acknowledge each other on the days Bruce remembered he knew me. I continued to respect his efforts to overcome the obstacles of living with the limitations of his handicaps but in all honestly, I would generally avoid interaction, as he frequently appeared to be angry and surly.

Over the next three years, I began to notice a softening and a kindness develop in him. I didn't try so hard to avoid him. He began to encourage me when he would see me in a depressed state of mind.

In the summer of 2004, I encountered Bruce at a bus stop and we talked as we waited for a very late bus. He shared that he was doing all right but was beginning to consider finding himself a wife to help him. Bruce had relinquished his financial affairs to SSA appointed administrators and they did not allow him many choices.

He said, "Dad said I should go back to the synagogue and meet people so I am. I'm trying to find a good Jewish wife who can help me with these things."

I chuckled and responded, "Seems we're in about the same boat. I'm looking for a good Mormon husband to help me with things!"