Between The Lines Of Life

By Clarissa Enos Plagmann It has been 147 days since I started dating my wonderful husband, 109 days since I said yes to marrying him, and ten days since I said yes at the altar and forever altered my life by agreeing to love him for the rest of my life and into the eternities. It wasn't exactly an easy decision. After all, we moved quickly. I was hearing murmurs from people on both sides of the spectrum. Some were saying we were moving too quickly, others were congratulating us on knowing what was right. And in the back of my mind I wondered if I'd gone insane. But then I heard these four words: "Fear is a choice!" Those four words helped me to realize that those doubts I had were out of fear. Fear that it wouldn't work out, fear that I didn't really love him, fear that for whatever reason we'd fall out of love. It was then that I decided to substitute "Fear" for "Love." "Love is a choice!" It is! The chemic

Love. That strange magic everyone always talks about. The kind of magic people actually believe in, rather than magical... magic... Ahem... Anyway, I'm not sure if I've ever been in love. However, recently I was discussing my writing habits with a new friend. My mom and my aunt both write romance almost exclusively so I've grown up around romance books. I never thought I'd be any good at it, because I've never been in love. But I've always wanted to try my hand at it. I've always thought I had a romance or two in me, but I just didn't feel qualified to write it,  you know? Well, this friend told me to go for it, so I thought I'd kick myself off by writing about my first love/kiss. I wouldn't say it was love. We were really good friends. I really liked him. I think I could have grown to love him, given time. We met the summer following my first official year of college, my second if you count the first unofficial year: Summer 2012. The f