I am a hopeless romantic. I believe in every aspect of love the same way Anne Shirley lived every moment of her life, and Dean Martin sang about so often.  My mom spent much of my childhood looking for true love.  I was worried it didn’t really exist for years or maybe it was just in books. Jay Gatsby longed for it but even with his wealth the romance of his dreams never came to him. When I grabbed the brass ring and fell wholeheartedly into being a full-fledged romantic, I never looked back. It causes daydreaming and contentment.  My kind of romance goes far beyond love’s first kiss and strolls down a road to that tingling inside when you watch a baby sleep. The feeling of possibility and hope is what every romantic lives for. We can create it in our minds into the tiniest moments and push it boldly into true love.

My love of romance is very reflective of my shop and outlook on life.  Ron Mooney is the reason why.  From the moment of our first “non-date” I was hooked on him, and the possibility of romance.  That day was New Year’s Eve of 1988.  Actually it was probably before that, but that was when he took me to see Rain Man and a romantic dinner at Burger King.  Twenty years ago today I was his bride.  He still calls me his bride. Really, when we are at a party or somewhere and he is looking for me he says, “Have you seen my bride?”  It makes me smile every time. 

I could go on and on with paragraphs about why I cry (tears of joy) at every moment where there is the slightest chance at a happy ending. This would include commercials, songs, movies, plays, and even signs in Daisy’s.  There would be my decree that I will live longer being a traditional romantic (I know I am a traditional romantic because I took the quiz on the B H L D N website). It would take even longer if I went over 20 years of the moments I deemed romantic in my life.  It really comes down to this; Ron is there for me, as the guy I love the most, as a wonderful father and in my quest to start businesses I know nothing about. We have 3 children that we see bits of each other in everyday.  Even when I want to take a frying pan to his head, I know the situation will work out with him by my side. Romance is about not worrying about your next step, or at least knowing you have someone there to help you stand back up if you fall. I guess it must also have something to do with slow cooked onions and knee slapping funny movies because I have to love those to love Ron, and I do. And after all these years, I went from loving him to not knowing how I would live without him…now that’s a hopeless romantic.

A song of love and a recipe rolled into one!