Image provided by: Clackamas Community College; Oregon City, OR
About The Clackamas print. (Oregon City, Oregon) 1989-2019 | View Entire Issue (Feb. 14, 1996)
4 SZ Weniing \ Day_ Wednesday February, 141996 VALENTINE’S DAY V6 Happily married at 20 Tkt, Dosina Gowc Tarah Nimz Staff Writer St. Valentine’s Day. Spring is just around the corner and love is in the air. Cupid is getting target practice, so you’d better watch out if you don’t want to be hit. This is how it would happen, you would get up the nerve to ask that special someone out and POW! You’re playing the dating game. Why do they call it a game anyway? All good games come with instructions. That might be nice to have. Someone could make a small fortune marketing those. They could call it The Official Dating Instructional Handbook. Unfortunately, or maybe for tunately, it isn’t that simple. I’ve found that dating can be fun with the right person, but they are not all going to be the “Mr. or Miss Right” of your dreams. Dating is a lot like finding shoes you like. Sometimes you have to try on a lot of them before you find the perfect pair. Sometimes you go wrong. Everyone has their share of bad dating experiences, those not so graceful times where you walk into a wall or laugh so hard that you snort and pop flies out of your nose. I’m sure you’re saying “I wouldn’t know anything about that.” Well I would. It was my first time out to dinner with my boyfriend’s whole family. It was his birthday and we met them at the Olive Garden. Introductions went fine and I sat down . They were already eating their salad and I dished some up. I was trying to talk and eat somewhat gracefully at the same time but I had this monster chunk of lettuce on my plate. Rather than try to fit the whole thing in my mouth I decided to cut it. The Salad was slippery, what can I say? The next thing I knew this crouton goes flying across the table and hits his aunt in the chest, leaving a huge dressing mark on her silk blouse. I could have died. This was my first huge embarrass ment in a public place. It doesn’t seem so bad now, and it did earn me the name “Crou ton Queen” for the next sev eral months. I think what is worse is ‘the date that turns mute.' I met this adorable guy, a lifeguard at a pool where I took my sis ters for swimming lessons. He asked me out and I was so ex cited. Friday night could not get here soon enough. Finally it was time. He picked me up, met my parents because he wanted to and had a nice little conversation with them about his Olympic swim ming. I’m thinking “Good, my parents like him, let’s go.” We get out to the car and he turns silent. No, not just quiet-Mutel The guy probably said 20 words all night. My favorite of those was, after a minute of silence he asks “ So, are you a Democrat or a Republican?” Needless to say, this was not my ideal evening. All of my dating experiences have been unique. Some have been more em barrassing than others but they’ve all been fun. In the dating game it’s easy to win, even though you might meet a few losers on the way. Amy K. Hanson Managing Editor My Musband, My Love. K peoH by Z-outcy Ffluse Like a breath of fresh air you came into my life and tugged gently at my heart strings to open a loving and compassionate heart to share with yours. Like a child seeking a playmate you knocked upon my door and 1 answered shyly at first, “Yes, 1 can come out and play”. Like the music num you strummed a beautiful song that makes me feel whole again. Like a day at the beach you bring me peace and serenity. Like a tiger your pride and strength give me the courage to face each new day. Like my dream come true I live each day with loving thoughts of you. Everyone wonders why I got married. They also wonder what love is and how I know I’ve found it. When I was asked to write a piece on marriage for this Valentine’s issue, I could not fig ure out which angle to take. The idea came to me while cuddling my sleeping husband and recount ing a conversation I’d had with my best friend the night before. Most of my life, I dreamed of meeting and falling in love with the perfect man—dark hair, dark eyes, and smart, the Anto nio Banderas type. I never thought that I would meet and fall in love with an older, tall, witty, attractive red head. This is exactly what I did. From the moment I met Scott in the video store where I worked, I felt a very strong attraction to him. I was puzzled. Why? Obvi ously his looks didn’t match my previous expectations. I was “set up” by Scott and my boss. They had been conspir ing to get me to go out with him. What they didn’t know, was that I was constructing my own plan of attack. We went on a date, then an other. As we spent more and more time together, our respect, trust, love and need to be with each other grew. After about nine months, IT happened—no not pregnancy— the BIG question. While watching the River Wild, I continuously heard many deep deep breaths and then, “Amy, I love you.” During the credits, Scott got down on his knees in front of me and proposed. I already knew the answer, the problem was deciding how long to let him suffer before I said yes. If I say it too quickly will I sound too anxious? or If I wait too long, will he change his mind? Scott and I were married at Multnomah Falls on Sept. 16, 1995, not long after the big rock fell. In two days, we will have been married for five months. Lately, I’ve been lying awake at night cuddling up close to him and listening to his heartbeat, thankful for finding him. I love Scott very much and can’t bear the thought of ever having to live without him. There is no doubt that he is the one for me and I look forward to spend ing the rest of my life with him . From the above description, it may seem that Scott and I had an easy time finding happiness; not true. Our relationship faced a lot of opposition from family and friends due to stereotypes and an age difference of about 6 years. I feel that there is nothing we can’t get through working together. We’ve been through so much al ready that we know we can rely on each other for strength and support. Many people look at me with disbelief because I got married at 19 and did not have to base my decision on a pregnancy. They also think I’m crazy for going to college, taking a full load of classes, working on the newspa per, being a wife, daughter and sister-in-law. I used to tell myself that I was never going to get married. I thought I wasn’t the type—boy was I wrong. I’ve melded right into the “honey,” “baby” and other sweetly sickening sayings that single people despise and you know what? It doesn’t bother me. I'm in love! Love Lines p. What some famous people have said about Love Preface all of these with the ever popular "Hey Baby..." 1. "...What's your sign?" 2. "...Your feet must be tired because you've been running though my mind all day." 3. "...If I rewrote the alphabet, I'd put 'U' and T together." 4. "...I lost my number, can I have yours?" 5. "...Your dad must work at Fred Meyer's because you're My-T-Fine." 6. "...Am I sweating? It's just because you're so hot!" 7. "... Your dad must be a thief because he stole the stars and put them in your eyes." 8. "...If I said you had a nice body would you hold it against me?" 9. "...If I follow you home, will you keep me?" 10. "...Milk does a body good, but dang baby...how much milk you been drinkin'?" "Do I love you because you are beautiful, or are you beautiful because I Love you?" Prince Charming, in Rogers & Hammerstein's Cinderella "Passionate love is in many ways an altered state of consciousness... In many states today, there are laws that a person must not be in an intoxicated condition when marrying...But passionate love is a kind of Intoxication." Roy Baumeister, Meanings of Life. 1991 "Love can sweep you off your feet and carry you along in a way you've never known before. But the ride always ends, and you end up lonely and bitter. Wait-it's not love I'm describing. I'm thinking of a monorail." Jack Handy Deep Thoughts "Love is only a dirty trick played on us to acheive a continuation of the species." Novelist W. Somerset Maugham, 1874-1965 )_ 2) "Have you ever thought about gettin' married?" "No." "What if you found just the right man, who worshipped and adored you and who would do anything for you, what then?" "I would pity him." Wednesday and a 'friend' from Addams Family Values "A thousand times the worse, to want thy light. Love goes toward love as schoolboys from their books, But love from love, toward school with heavy looks." Romeo, Romeo & Juliet
