Saturday, October 31, 2009

Love, Literary Theory, and Other Things That Go Bump in the Night

Buy this T-shirt from the Edward Gorey House 


Nineteen years ago today I met the man I would marry.  Yep.  We met on Halloween.  We were in college, but we didn't meet at a Halloween party or at a bar; neither of us was in costume, and we were both completely sober (amazingly).  Actually, we met on a bench outside a classroom building before a three-hour evening class on literary theory.  We were both English majors, and since the beginning of the term I had harbored a secret crush on him from afar.  Well, not that far actually, since we had mutual friends and we sat one row away from each other in this very intense upper-level seminar of about a dozen students.

It was already dark outside and the cold crept into my bones through my thin cotton jacket.  I was heading to class early to finish up my reading before the lecture began, and, as usual, I was kicking myself for not finishing on time.  It was useless to try to cram in twenty pages of Martin Heidegger or Jacques Derrida at the last minute.  They were hard enough to comprehend when I had hours of time and a full pot of coffee brewing.  To make matters worse, I'd had nothing to eat all afternoon but a carrot and a bit of hummus.  My stomach grumbled bitterly as I hunched into the frosty evening air, my shoulder aching from the weight of a messenger bag stuffed with the usual English major's assortment of used Penguin classics and Norton anthologies.  Through my fog of self-pity laced with self-loathing, I suddenly thought I heard someone call my name.  I glanced around, but nearsighted girl that I was, I saw no one, so I reached to open the front door.  As I began to step inside, I heard it again, this time louder.  I spun around, and there he was, smiling at me like a cheshire cat seated on a low brick wall: the boy I'd been watching, the one with the black leather jacket and the scar that ran down the length of his right cheek; the one who wrote with a fountain pen and who spoke in what sounded like perfectly constructed sentences whenever our professor called on him in class; the one whom I'd often seen sitting alone in the cafeteria, reading Samuel Beckett or Alain Robbe-Grillet.  He was calling to me.  He knew my name.

I walked over to him, and as soon as he said hello, all my worries about class melted away beneath the glow of the streetlamp that arched over us.  He invited me to sit with him.  I don't remember any small talk.  It seems to me we dove headfirst into talking about books and life and all the best stuff that very night, and we've never stopped since.  It really was love at first--well, if not sight then words.  I knew that night what I know now: nothing makes my heart beat faster than a man who reads.

30 comments:

  1. A wonderful and beautifully-written story! As a onetime English major myself, I can relate. My husband and I met while working at competing newspapers, much later in life. Thanks for sharing this wonderful story,and happy meeting anniversary!

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  2. ps - I completely agree - a man who reads is a prize indeed. I would add that a man with a fine intellect and a sense of humor to boot is worth his weight in gold.

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  3. Oh Gigi, what a beautifully written memory. I just loved that you shared this with us.

    I agree, real men read! Love the cute picture.

    xxx

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  4. Oh Gig....I love the way you met...I'm a hopeless romantic and that was ROMANTIC.
    Thanks for telling us your lovely story.
    Have a wonderfully romantic weekend. XXXX

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  5. Love your story! So romantic, and so well written. Thank you for sharing this special memory with us.I wish I had your talent for writing.I am happy that I found your blog, and get a glimpse into your life on the other side of the ocean.

    I wish you a happy halloween week-end!

    PS.If you should happen to visit my blog, I have started to write small notes in english on the bottom of my posts (even if my english is not that good)... I think it is nice to also be able to share thoughts whith people who do not understand Norwegian.

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  6. I fell for an English Major also. What great taste we have!

    Come to think of it we met around this time too. I love the tee shirt.

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  7. Gigi, I hope you're both having a wonderful weekend. Thank you so much for sharing this lovely story - it's so interesting to know how people met and how their romance began. Leigh

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  8. God you're good. Loved this story. English major myself, but never fell for any of my feloow students - to the relief of my computer husband ;) Happy halloween anniversary :)

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  9. *SWOON*...I was hanging on every word of your romantic meeting, Gigi! You are lucky to have a man of books & letters ad you life's companion. Thank you for sharing your special story. And such fun you met at Halloween...fun time to meet! My own hubby is a book-lover too...so I appreciate the literary sentiments here. :o) Happy weekend, my friend ((HUGS))

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  10. Falling in love with one's soulmate....there is nothing better on earth.

    I need to always wear my reading glasses, however. Thinking of Halloween, I mistakenly read that "...I'd had nothing to eat all afternoon but a carrot and a bit of humans!!!"

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  11. This is so sweet Gigi! When two people can sit in the same room, with a fire and read for hours... that is the beauty in life. We're going to do this very thing this afternoon and evening waiting for the ghosts to arrive. I love that tee shirt- my husband is a passionate reader. Have a wonderful evening darlin'.

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  12. What a beautifully romantic story. Alex and I love to read too....and you're right, there is nothing better than a man who reads...I just got the chills as I was reading your story! Happy Anniversary, Gigi! XXOO

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  13. As my Sean says, "you love love", and yes I do! This story was the best Halloween story I have ever read! Nothing makes me happier than for those wonderful people like you to find the love of their life!

    Bises,
    Melissa

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  14. oh my ... i have goosebumps ... what a most beautiful story ... felt like i was right there, feeling your feelings ... wow ...

    lovely gigi ... truly lovely ...

    your words have left me ... well, virtually wordless ...

    thank you for sharing ~ i know i will read this again and again ...

    prairiegirl xoxoxo

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  15. Oh and I remember a November afternoon in the school dining hall when a perfectly giddy Gigi practically danced over to my table and pointed out the tall, bespectacled, cool and bookish-looking fellow whom she'd just started dating. My first glimpse of "Todd" -- with whom I have since had many a grand evening and from whom I will still take any bit of intellectual engagement I can. This is, after all, the man whom I once challenged to define ideology in 25 words only to be given -- without hesitation -- one of the most lucid and convincing definitions I've ever heard in EXACTLY 25 words.

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  16. What a wonderful love story... I´m smiling to myself. It´s perfect.

    Thank you for sharing, your feelings...

    Have a happy Halloween.
    Hugs/
    Luiza

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  17. Oh I loved this so much I read out loud to my boyfriend. He really loves love stories, shhh don't tell him I told anyone. We both loved it! How perfect before running out for Halloween dinner just the two of us! Thanks sweet friend. Have a wonderful Halloween! :)

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  18. That was so romantic. My husband and I also share a love of books, although we were both business majors and our taste in books rarely overlaps. We spend hours in bookstores and a great day for us is sitting on the beach with a good book. I'm always stunned at how many people tell me they don't read, they don't have time. I simply can't imagine it.

    Sue

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  19. Thank you so much for the nice comment on my blog. Last time I commented I forgot to tell you that I also studied (Norwegian) language and literature in University ten years ago, but I feel I have forgotten everything I learned because I do not use it in my work... But anyway I enjoy reading books, and I am happy to have found a husband that also reads a lot. I agree with you: Real Men Read! :-)
    Have a wonderful Sunday!

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  20. Sigh. Big sigh. Love at first word. I believe it completely. It was that way for Jeffrey and me, too. Lust at first sight, love at first word. Sigh.

    Tell me more. I do so love a good love story.

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  21. Oh, I loved this! I remember having such a crush on a boy in university because of how he answered one question in an English course. Sigh. Why do men bother with all of the crap when all they need to do to sweep us off of our feet is a) TALK to us and b) have something interesting to talk about!!

    Sigh.

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  22. That's what I needed today.... a romantic story! Isn't that what Sunday's are for? I love that you shared this with us. I can't even being to write as well as you but there are times I would love to write about my sweet husband. He's not keen on me writing about him or even showing his picture.
    So thanks for helping me remember the first time we met!
    I love that my husband likes to read but I love it more that he can "fix" things! lol
    xxx............C

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  23. Aww.
    I think that is the most romantic Halloween story I have ever heard. No ghosts and gouls in this wonderful tale...only lovers sharing words under a glowing streetlamp. Tell me...did you guys actually make it to class? Or did you lose yourselves completely in each other as you talked away the evening?

    xoxo

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  24. Thanks for all your amazing comments, my friends! I LOVED reading them. I'm with Megg when she says she wishes more men realized that we just want them to talk and to talk about interesting stuff. I'm lucky I found one who gets it, and it sounds like many of you are, too.

    My friend Jonathan remembers how goofy in love I was when I met my husband. Most days I think I'm pretty much still the same way.

    Oh, Jaime asked if we ever made it to class. Believe it or not, we did go to class that night, but I don't think I heard a word my professor said that night!!

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  25. Hi Gigi. How romantic ! And yes a man who loves to read.... a keeper ! David and I have reached that point were we rarely turn the telly on. Sitting quietly together reading (be it a novel, the papers, favourite journals) has become a very important part of our day. Of course, we always love a little nightmusic to complement. And exchanging stories.

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  26. I love a good romance story! And it was nice to have a Halloween story with a happy ending:)...Mr O is a voracious reader too and we have been together more than 32 years...

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  27. Gigi--Loved this post! But the best line of it all is the last: ". . . nothing makes my heart beat faster than a man who reads." I agree wholeheartedly!!!

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  28. a beautiful story!
    and now... timeless.

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  29. I bought my husband, whom i met September 1990, the same T-shirt

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  30. A beautiful story, I once met a beautiful English major in a similar way. We were talking about Terry Eagleton in Portland Maine. I was a tall dark handsome stranger from afar away place of castles, cathedrals and beautiful English meadows. We fell in love and I helped her to write her essay on literary theory. But alas like all travellers I had to eventually return home to my far away land. We kept in touch through letters, but the passage of time broke the bond and she sent a beautiful Dear John letter shortly around Bonfire Night or what we call Guy Fawkes Night. She had met someone else. I never forgot her smile or her muse. She was a beautiful soul. To quote Stevenson: 'We are all travellers in the wilderness of this world' and I was glad to have walked for a while with her along the sands of time.

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