Member-only story
LOVE
He Chose Me
What an Air Force officer taught me about the kind of love that lasts.
He walked in with a presence you don’t question.
His back was straight, his shoulders set, and that Air Force flight suit draped him the way it was meant to — earned, not worn. He didn’t need to try to be noticed. He already was.
He looked like Tom Selleck in Magnum P.I. — dark hair, a mustache, dimples in both cheeks, and that little twinkle in his eye.
Handsome in a way that caught me off guard.
The two officers walked over to our table — one a pilot, one a navigator. The pilot had his two young nephews with him. It was the playoffs, and ours was the only table available to watch the Boston Celtics, so they joined us.
My friend welcomed them. She was there to meet someone that weekend, so she turned toward them and started talking.
I stayed where I was.
I didn’t turn around. I didn’t engage. I ignored them. My life was already full — a four-year-old at home, two jobs, and school squeezed into whatever space I could find. I wasn’t looking for anything or anyone. I had built my life around the idea that no one would be interested in a package deal.
