I needed groceries and when I went through the checkout she said , "Hi. how are you?". I recognized her as an engineering student two years behind me. But, she smiled at me... and I knew. I put the groceries in my car and went back in. "I forgot to get sugar." The next time, I forgot flour. The third time, she said, "You should have made a list." I said, "The only real thing on my list is seeing your smile. May I see it again after you get off work?" She smiled and said, "Sure." I was smitten.

I asked her for her hand a year later and she said yes. I was to be employed as a Consultant Transportation Engineer and hoped teach at uni as well but my father was diagnosed with terminal cancer and I had to change plans... moving back home, a two hour drive away.

I requested that she follow me after she graduated and she said, "We'll see." I broke off the engagement, desperately wanting her to ask me not to do so. I will never forget her weeping as I left. She was the one and I think of her every day... for the last 28 years.