By Jillian McWhirter:
Do you believe in love at first sight? Is it just for kids and puppy-dog love or does love at first sight actually exist? Love tugs on something in your brain. Maybe it’s a scent you’re attached too, maybe it’s the big brown eyes you’re looking into, or the tuchus you watch when they walk away. Maybe, just maybe, it’s love at first sight.
A woman, nearly 30 years old, was on her way home one night from delivering food to make ends meet. Recently divorced and happy about it, her long blonde hair flowed out the open car window, and her long legs easily reached the gas pedal. She was heading home from work and started to talk to herself. No, she wasn’t that crazy—just crazy enough.
The car clock read 11:06 p.m. It was late, and the woman wished she was already home, but she told herself she had to go to the grocery store. She said no, that she had no makeup on and was wearing an old white t-shirt and jeans. But the argument continued in her head, and before the woman knew it, she was parking her car and walking into the grocery store.
At the same time a man’s car alarm was ringing, and he didn’t even know he had an alarm on his car. He drove to a gas-station by the grocery store. After they stopped the sound of the unknown alarm, the man found a list of items he needed to buy and decided to go to the grocery store.
The woman picked up a basket and walked down an aisle. She was turning a corner at an end-cap and crashed into a man pushing his cart. She said sorry and walked away. She felt the man’s eyes staring at her, and she turned around. They looked at each other. The woman apologized for bumping into him. The man kept staring and smiling. The woman thought, This is the happiest man I’ve ever seen. Is this the next man I’m going to marry? The man moved on, and so did the woman.
The woman headed to the checkout line and noticed the man behind her. The man opened a donut box and ate a donut before he had paid for them. The woman thought, Those are my favorite donuts of all time. Then the man dropped the donuts all over the floor, and the woman started to laugh. The woman paid and then walked out the door. The man paid and hurried out the door. He called out to the woman, and she stopped. He apologized for being a klutz, and the woman smiled. They stood there looking at each other. Then the man quickly pulled out his wallet and showed a picture of his daughter. “This is my daughter,” he told the woman. The woman told him how pretty she was. He asked if she was in the “business,” she told him she was an actress. He told her he dabbled in it. They talked the normal small talk, and then the woman said, “I guess you could ask for my phone number?” The man smiled, “I would love to get your number.” The woman waited and then said, “But I don’t know you, so instead you can give me your number.” He told her his number, and she wrote it down on a piece of scrap paper. The woman smiled and then walked away. He watched her.
Was that the end of the story? No, it wasn’t. The man raced to his car, jumped in, and drove his car by the woman. The woman was still putting her groceries in her car. The man rolled down his window and asked if she knew of a certain movie, and she said yes. He told her he produced it. The woman, unimpressed with his ego, thought he was very cute. He drove off, still without her phone number and hoping she would call him.
Fast forward thirty years later, that woman did make the phone call, and that woman was me, that man was my husband. Indeed, it was love at first sight, and also a small voice that told the woman and man where to go so that they would meet. Faith, oh yes, it had to be. Things happen for a reason. At times you may not understand them or believe that they are for the better, but later on you will know, you will know they are meant to be.
Raised in Mississippi, Jillian McWhirter moved to Paris and New York to pursue modeling before moving to Los Angeles to start her film and television career. She has written numerous feature film scripts and has published over thirty educational books that are used by health and safety organizations all over the United States.
Read Elizabeth Gracen's interview with Jillian McWhirter here.