[RichieLion]

Originally Posted by dancerbill

How I Met Violet

The first time I saw Violet was when I judged her in a dance contest at the Gold Coast Hotel in Las Vegas.

The dance contest was run in heats of 3-5 couples dancing on the floor at the same time. Violet was competing with her dance partner, and I could not take my eyes off her. She was the most beautiful and enchanting person I'd ever seen! At the end of each heat, I was required to submit score cards to the contest coordinator containing the scores that I had assigned each couple in the heat. Each time, I had to frantically assign scores to the other couples that I had not really judged because I watched only Violet and her partner. Luckily, there were other judges to restore some semblance of fairness.

I was married at the time -- happily, I thought -- and went home after the contest, although troubled and confused. There was someone new in my heart. Several years went by, I continued to see Violet at dance contests around the Southwest, until I started producing dance events in Las Vegas in 1994. I needed 100 volunteers to help run the festivals, and she volunteered each year, and I enjoyed being around her during the three days of each festival.

In 1998, my wife (and dance partner) was injured in an accident and, after recovery, decided that she wanted to retire from dance, and seemed to want to retire from me. I needed a new partner to help with classes and to compete in dance events. I called Violet and asked if she would like to help me. She agreed, and things went well as dance partners until, one evening, I asked her to dance with one of the students whose partner was absent that evening. I was observing the class, and realized for the first time that I was deeply in love with her and had been for several years. That night I kissed her after class for the first time.

Things became complicated for a time. My wife and I worked out a mutual agreement that it was time for us to part. I convinced Violet that I loved her and waited to see if she could learn to love me (she did), and we let time pass to ensure that our feelings for each other were true.

Three years later, Violet and I married in 2002 on the beach at sunset at Waikaloa, Hawaii, and have been together ever since. My greatest events in life were marrying her, moving to the Villages, and finding my little dog, Mimi. My greatest regret is that I did not meet and marry her 30 years earlier. She is the best thing that ever happened to me and being in my life proves every day that God loves me. Only He could have sent someone so wonderful to someone like me.

Your story has a little bit of everything. Pain, love, excitement, disappointment and maybe even redemption. Don't worry about the past, is my advice. The past is just that. You have the love of you life in your arms now, and the only thing to do is to go forward and seek new horizons.

Pat Mimi on the head for me