The Perfect Husband

It was the middle of December and I was tired with all of my midterms. It was my freshman year in high school and I was planning the rest of my life. I decided that I would get married and have the five little girls that I had always dreamed of raising. I wanted to go to a good college like Princeton and get my masters in mathematics and a minor in theology, then when I’d graduate I’d be an industrial engineer. I thought up all the names of my girls and my husband would be named Jack and my house would be medium sized, but with a big porch, because I always wanted a porch. I’d read to my kids from the bible and teach them the story of how I met their father and then we’d kiss as the little ones ewed and the older ones awed. I’d love him and I’d love them more than anything in the world. I’d sing to them every night and I’d hold them close and brush their smooth baby skin. He’d hold me in his arms and I would ramble on about my thoughts and he’d laugh and smile and tell me he loved me. I didn’t want a different life; I didn’t want a different story, but for some reason I got one.
The crash came from the dining room and I turned jerkily. I screamed and grabbed my cell phone of the table. I punched in 911 as I watched the flames rising. I told the person on the line my address and my name. Then I called my mom and dad and told them that it couldn’t have been my fault! I wasn’t anywhere near the kitchen! They told me it was okay and that it probably was a wire or something. When the fire department got there the whole wall was gone and it was growing even more rapidly. I told them I had no idea what had happened and they said they found a lighter by the garage door. Someone tried to burn our house? With me in it! Did they know I was there alone? They got finger prints and found out that this boy at my school had done it! Boy? What boy? I am not a boy kind of girl! I’ve never had a boyfriend. I never even talk to any boys really. That is what an all-girls Catholic high school is for! The boy’s name was Robert Kenning. Robert wasn’t in the mixed choir so he couldn’t have known me through that and he wasn’t one of the loser boys who occasionally sits at our lunch table. And he definitely was not a Facebook friend! I had never heard the name before and I told the police that many times. I just didn’t understand!
The next day my mom told me that they had questioned the kid and he would be put in juvenile detention, because he admitted to the crime. Apparently he did attend the all-boys high school next door to mine and he did say he knew me from school. Okay maybe he knew me, but this definitely was not a mutual thing! Robert said he didn’t know why he did it, but he was just upset about a recent break up WITH LESLIE!!!!! I didn’t know Leslie had a boyfriend! I didn’t even remember Leslie liking a boy. I called up Leslie and told her everything. She said she was shocked! She said she only went out with Robert for a week and when she said “I love you” he took her way too seriously and she dumped him. She said he was a nice boy, but he grew up with abusive parents and had some trouble handling anger. Leslie apologized sincerely and asked if she could do anything. I told her no, but I asked for Robert’s number. I looked him up on Facebook and did some stalking and it turns out he doesn’t seem like a kid with any issues at all.
When Robert explained his story to the judges he was only given two months in juvie and then he’d be moved to another foster home. When he insisted on staying with the same one the judges said okay, but they would have to be watched. The current parents said okay and that was that. Robert also had to attend some therapy or anger management thing, but nothing really serious. I found myself feeling bad for the kid. One month later I had fully forgiven him and I thought my whole family had. When he got out of juvie I called him up and explained who I was. He said he was so sorry and he wanted to apologize for taking his anger out on one of Leslie’s friends. “I don’t know why I did what I did” he kept saying. I told him I forgave him and he said he was very appreciative. Surprisingly the Catholic school took him back as long as he promised never again. I friended him on Facebook and he accepted right away. We chatted for hours every night and he started sitting with my friends and I at lunch. It was Valentine’s Day when he asked me to be his girlfriend. It was so cute! He wrote it on a card that he tied around the wrist of a stuffed bear. I told him yes and he hugged me! That was one of the best days of my life!
By the time we graduated from high school we were inseparable. We went to our local community college together and we both got our education degree so we could teach. We loved having the same job! By now we were twenty three and we decided to get married. It was a cute little wedding, not too fancy. We didn’t take a honeymoon except for a week off from work. Robert wanted to give me some part of my idealistic future, so he decided to get me my dream home and in doing so he got another job working as a salesperson at a local shop. This took away from all of my time alone with him, but it felt worth it.
One hot summer day while he was working at one of his jobs he collapsed at work and was sent to the emergency room, but it was too late. He had tons of blood clots in his lungs and he was unable to breathe. The resuscitating procedures did not work and he died that night. I was devastated. At twenty three I was a widow. I felt my life was over. I found myself wishing I was just as Robert was. It took me two years to realize that there was only one way to deal with my loss. I was to join the convent. I had felt a calling earlier in life, but I had pushed it away because of Robert, but since Robert was no more I figured that that was what I was meant to do. I went to a seminary and worked diligently as a school teacher while I trained. I began to love the single life. I realized I hadn’t remembered what it had been like because I had been dating Robert for so long. I also became addicted to praying. I found that when I was with God and talking to him it felt just like when I was talking to Robert. I began talking to God just like I’d talk to a spouse and that is when it hit me! I was meant to be a nun! I was being called to marry God!
What the perfect love story after all! The man who never left my side, the man who would comfort me in my times of need, and listen to me like my ideal spouse was going to be my husband after all! And my kids! Well I’d teach at the all-girls Catholic school I went to before! My life is perfect now! I have all I ever dreamed of and more. The convent even has a great big porch and I love my girls more than anything in the world and I love God and He loves me!