Deb Marlowe joins us as a Valenduckie cupid. This historical romance author gives us a new genre for her Valentines remembrance. Don’t forget to catch her Scandalous Lord, Rebellious Miss, released by Harlequin Historicals 1 Feb 08.
A Paranormal Moment for a Practical Girl
Sybil suggested writing about Your Most Romantic Moment and a particular instant sprang to mind—as it always does when this sort of thing is mentioned. But I had to truly consider whether I was ready to tell this story. Because, you see, I experienced My Most Romantic Moment with my dh, and he didn’t even know about it.
Until now, I’ve only shared this with my dh, who scoffed, and my critique partner—when we were deep in a conversation about character and motivation. She was too kind to scoff, but I could tell she wanted to.
Let me preface the story by saying that I am a very hands-on, ‘don’t worry, I’ll take care of it’ Practical Kind of Girl. I don’t obsess over the paranormal, have never seen a ghost or met someone I suspected of being a vampire. I’ve never even been overly troubled by déjà vu. When I was young I wanted to be either a writer or a history professor, but I was counseled that neither of those choices came with a good prospect of a living wage. Being a Practical Kind of Girl, I opted instead to purse a more stable, universal career.
I was in college, in pursuit of said stable career when My Most Romantic Moment occurred. It was Halloween. I was dressed as a flapper in black fringe, a red boa and my big Eighties hair. My girlfriend and I set out to celebrate, and after Assorted Adventures we ended up at a party in the basement of a Frat House. I was not drinking, since I am also a Smart Girl and not about to become inebriated in an unfamiliar environment.
A Young Man approached and asked me to dance. We rocked it out to some bitchin’ late Eighties tunes, talked a little, and discovered that we came from the same hometown, had a bazillion acquaintances in common, but had never met.
A slow dance came on. We danced it. At first it was a perfectly normal, head-on-shoulder dance. I remember the song, the grungy, grainy smell of the place and the sensation of our shoes sticking to the floor. Then I looked up and he smiled down at me.
I swear, it was a movie-worthy moment. Promise not to laugh at me, Valenduckies! The music faded completely away. The light changed and I had the strangest feeling of disorientation, as if I were dancing and also watching us dance from far away. I felt very strongly that I was looking back, and that I was very, very happy. I knew. I knew, deep in the core of me, that this Young Man was Special.
And then the lights and music came back and I laughed and told myself I had been watching too many romantic movies. But I never forgot. Years later that Young Man became my DH and even though neither of us can really be called young anymore, that moment stands out as one of the most vivid and compelling of my life.
I can’t explain it. Was it a young girl’s fantasy? A body chemistry/brain electricity function recognizing someone compatible? Or maybe the old legends are right and the barriers between the worlds are thinner on Old Hallows Eve. No idea. All I know is that I cherish both that memory and my DH. And when I’m writing, I want my hero and heroine to have that breathtaking moment when they know without a doubt that they’ve found the one for them.
So there! I’ve laid myself bare before you, Valenduckies! Scoff if you will, or share your own odd, unearthly moments and make me feel better! Two commenter’s will win a copy of my debut release Scandalous Lord, Rebellious Miss.
Deb Marlowe
That’s such a beautiful story! Thank you for sharing it with us. Happy Valentine’s Day!
My only weird/ghostly story is very old: I was eleven or so, and my older sister and a group of friends decided to fool around with a Ouija board. Suddenly the light in the playroom went off, and since we had the doors closed and there are no windows there, it was dark as hell. We scrambled outside, thinking the power had gone off, but… no, the rest of the house had power. One of my brothers laughed and said, “the bulb burned out, that’s all” so we sent him to check. He flipped the switch, and the light came on.
I’ve never touched a Ouija board since. Why tempt fate, yanno?
Thanks for sharing the story with us.
I believe in ghosts and we have one living with us. Things fall down although nobody is there, sometimes you have the feeling that someone touches you, but only my mom and me experience that, so I guess our ghost is male. LOL
What a neat romantic moment. I don’t scoff at that sort of thing. I still say I fell in love with the man who became my husband at first touch…innocent though it was. He was tucking a strand of my hair behind my ear and I felt aflutter. Had not even been looking for romance at the time and had never intended to marry. This year will be our 15th anniversary.
Love to hear about romantic moments… My weird moment happened a few years ago when I saw someone cross the street and saw in front of me the face of a friend that had not seen for such a long time… to realize that there was no one in front of me!
Happy Valentine’s Day!!!! I believe that their are unexplained things that happen around us. Even though I always get told that it doesn’t.
Thanks for sharing, guys! You have made me feel better about telling that story!
azteclady–Spooky! I’m never touching a ouija board, either!
Danny–you are so brave! I’d be a wreck, living with a ghost! I’m a big baby about stuff like that.
Little lamb–that is so romantic. That’s a moment and a story to cherish, too.
Nathalie–I think I would have immediately gotten in touch with that friend! Did you ever ask them about it?
Kimmy–Happy Valentine’s Day to you too! I think it is obvious from the comments today that the unexplained does happen!
Oh this is so lovely … aren’t such memories the best? Subtle, personal and endearingly sweet? I fondly remember a romantic situation with my first serious uh SERIOUS partner LOL. We met again after our first night together, it was my birthday, and he brought me this very big, blue cuddly toy in form of a caterpillar. Back at that time I was working in a receptionist in a very posh skiing area and we met at the local country disco. We had a fab evening, schlepping with us this H-U-G-E stuffed animal. It sat on our table when we dined and it even accompanied us onto the dance floor and bedroom later. Years later when I went back there to meet some relatives they told a few people still remember the caterpillar *g*.
Congratulations Diane! You must be so excited, and probably a little frazzled with wedding planning, but nothing is so wonderful is knowing you are about to bond with your soulmate!
What a sweet memory, Katie! Did you keep the caterpillar? My sister’s husband won her some really humongous stuffed animals at Kennywood, an amusement park in PA, and she STILL has them 15 years later. One is a life size Teddy and we have pictures of all the babies in the family crawling all over that thing.
Congratulations, Ruth, on finding the one perfect for you–and for having the good sense to cherish him!
That is such a lovely story, Deb! I never had anything quite like that happen, but shortly after we got married, my dh, who never ever dreams at all, had a very special dream. He dreamed that his parents (who died before I ever met him) met me and liked me and gave us their blessing. He woke up crying. It was such a moving moment for both of us. Do I think they really did come to him to say they approved? I do … but then I think there’s plenty of things that exist beyond current science. We just haven’t figured them out yet.
Hi Deb – that was a really sweet story, and I’m definitely not going to scoff at you. I’ve had “time froze, I will remember this forever” moments as well. I’ve had a few “weird moments.” In my apartment, we hear knocking coming from underneath all the time – and it’s just the empty basement that shouldn’t be making any noise. Another freaky moment, was during finals week in college, after hours and finally finishing a paper, I was walking to my bedroom when I saw someone sitting in the chair in our study room. Only, it was 4 am, and nobody was there. It’s still a bit scary. Ah well – Happy Valentine’s Day!
i don’t scoff at such stories even though i haven’t experienced anything similar. but i know plenty of people who have, who often didn’t even grasp the significance until much later. things like thinking of someone continents away the moment something huge happens to them, etc.
your story is good – i hope you trot it out on significant anniversaries and such like!
Deb, I still have the caterpillar, but the man is long passé. We never were really in love, it was a nice romantic affair and we both knew it. It was such a silly, lovely present and I fondly remember our time together.
That is a special dream, Sabrina, and such a nice feeling for both you and your dh! My grandma passed away years ago, but I have dreams about her all the time and it always makes me feel really good, as if she’s watching out for me.
JSL–you’re giving me shivers!
Thanks Maya, maybe I’ll tell this story to my kids, when they are a little older. They’ll probably roll their eyes! Hee hee.
I’m beginning to think I’m leading a boring life because I haven’t experienced any unearthly moments like those mentioned above. I think I need to participate in a seance for some excitement.
I can’t think of any odd moments. Let’s see…when I would have a dream, and I would somehow either re-dream of it and if the dream is a bad one, I would immediately wake up. Very odd.
Thanks for sharing your stories, everyone! I hope everyone had a terrific Valentine’s Day!
My official contest coordinator (youngest child) has put everyone’s names in a hat and picked 2 winners! Kimmy Lane and Katie! You have each won a copy of Scandalous Lord, Rebellious Miss–please contact me (click her name at the bottom) with your snail mail addresses and I’ll get them right out to you!
Deb Marlowe
Congratulations, Kimmy Lane and Katie!
Thank you, Deb! It’s been fun.
Congrats Kimmy and Katie!