I grew up a lonely child, and the only comfort I could find was on the old abandoned dock over the lake in my yard. I never showed anyone the dock. That is, until I met him.

I was 15 when he moved into town, he was 17. We met at the local diner where I worked at the time. He came in with his family and when i first saw him, I swear he was the cutest boy I’d ever seen. He had messy black hair and deep brown eyes, and his smile could light up anyone’s day. I swore that day that he’d be the man I married.

After seeing him for about three months, I worked up the courage to ask him out. The smirk that spread over his face when I asked made me blush bright red. “Why would such a beautiful girl be asking a scraggly guy like me out?” He asked, running a hand through his dark hair. “I-I- well… you’re… really cute…” I managed to stutter as a response. And that was how our relationship started.

It was about two months after we started dating, we’d been on a few dates and I’d decided to show him my dock, so I brought him over and led him through the complex maze of fields to get to the old dock at the back of our family’s property. We sat at the edge, with our feet dangling off. We talked for hours, until the moon peeked over the west horizon.

I turned to look at him at that point and his glittering eyes were transfixed on me, as if staring at a priceless piece of artwork. I blushed amd started to look away, but he gently grabbed my chin and said in a raspy voice, “Don’t look away, you look beautiful in the moonlight…” his voice trailed off and he carefully leaned forward and stopped only inches from my face. I could feel his warm breath on my cheek and my breathing faltered nervously. He giggled slightly and kissed me. He kissed my like I could break at any moment. It was gentle and warm, like a fresh apple pie.

I stopped breathing for a good 5 seconds, then I realized what was happening. The boy of my dreams was kissing me. He was so gentle about it, not wanting to startle me. I leaned into his kiss and wrapped my arms around his neck. He pulled away from the kiss just long enough for his dark brown eyes to bore into the back of my head, then he smiled and kissed me again. More confident now that I had responded positively to his touch.

That night was the start of a 67 year long relationship. We got married at 19, had our first child at 24, renovated the dock and had our second child at 29. We lived happily together ‘till the end of our lives. And it all started with a kiss on the dock.