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YourHub.com \\ Green Valley Ranch \\ Stories \\ Holidays \\ Valentine's Day

My fantasy man becomes Mr. Reality

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Contributed by: Erin Di Paolo on 2/2/2007

When I was in the eighth grade, my life revolved around boys and the Dallas Cowboys. Well, I guess if you look at it more closely, my life revolved around boys, of one sort or another.

I liked a lot of boys then, but there was one that stood head and shoulders above the rest. His name was John. My friend Karen and I would swoon every time we saw him. And we would say his name, not just John, but John Di Paolo. When he walked down the hall, it would be, "Oooo, there's John Di Paolo." When we saw him and his fellow jocks at the local mall, it was always, "Oh, my God. There goes John Di Paolo." He had become our fantasy man.

John was popular. He was a jock who played baseball, football, and basketball. But he was much more than that. He was dark and handsome, though not that tall; Italian and a bit elusive. Girls like Karen and I did not stand a chance with boys like him. Or so we thought.

When it was time for high school, there were two in our town since a new one had been built the year we were sophomores. John went to the new school while all of his cronies went to my high school. I ended up dating one of John's best-friends throughout high school without ever managing to bump into John!

Years later I was a bridesmaid in the wedding of my friend, Linda. I was talking to friends when the photographer informed us that several available men were in attendance. I asked her who. She said, "John Di Paolo is here. Do you know him?" I just about fell over in my fuchsia-dyed pumps. "He is?" I questioned. "Where?"

"Over there," she said, with her outstretched finger pointing at the buffet line. It was him and he looked better than I rememberd. I needed to get my nerve up, so I grabbed a glass of wine and downed it. By the time I was ready to approach him, he had left. It was not to be.

A few months later when I had reached a lull in my dating life, I remembered that wedding. And how much I still wanted to date John Di Paolo. So I wrote him a letter and mailed it to the only Di Paolo I could find in the Longmont phone book. A week later, he called me. A few days later, we went on our first date. Eight months after that, we were married.

We have been married for almost 18 years. Has the fantasy been all I thought it would be? Yes and no. I would be lying if I said it has been all wine and roses. No relationship is like that, even those that are of the fantasy-turned-into-reality type. No matter what your image is of a supposed perfect person, it initially gets shattered.

Even so, most days I am glad I married John. In some ways he is much better than I dreamed of in those days when I didn't know him. In my fantasy, he was just a good-looking face. In my day-to-day reality, he is loyal, hard-working, disciplined, and a great father. And he still remains hot! What more could a girl want?

Happy Valentine's Day, John!

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CONTRIBUTOR INFORMATION

Erin Di Paolo

Denver , CO

Erin Di Paolo has posted 61 stories and 6 comments since joining on 3/18/2006. Erin Di Paolo 's average story rating is 4.81.

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