Sara is my wife. Now, I don't mean to get all in a huff and political, but that's how it is. I changed my last name, moved in with her, and am, in every fashion, for her. My name is Shelby, and I lay each night with an angel.
Sara and I met online. Risky, we know, but it wasn't like we sought one another out in some lesbian single's site or on some horrible chat room plagued with men trying to hook up with lesbians. We met on some message board discussing one remarkably geeky thing or another, and we fell in love. Now, I also mean to be clear about love. I don't mean the 'You're a compliment to my life' love most married people have or the 'You complete me' love young fools think they do. I mean true love. The kind that sees you through my manic depression and her physical weakness. The kind of love that, genuinely, does conquer all.
I am eighteen years old, bordering on nineteen; she is twenty-three bordering on twenty-four. Our birthdays are the same week in April. Where I am toned from being an avid runner in school, she is thin from metabolism and nutrition. Neither of us have much height or chest to speak of, I in the low B's and she in the A-range. It's been commented many times that we look more like sisters in high school than wives in the real world. I like to think of that as complementary. My hair is longer than hers, and I put highlights in it, whereas hers is shorter -- though still feminine -- and a rich shade of brown. What distinguishes my Angel most is not her appearance, but her lack thereof in a certain respect.
My Angel cannot speak. When she was young, an accident claimed her voice and left her communicating with instant messages and sticky notes. But, she doesn't ever need to. Her eyes tell me she loves me, her touch shows she cares... her tongue reminds me that no one can come between us. Ever. I work, attend classes, and am up late into the night, reading, writing, and refining one skill or another, while she tends to domestic issues, finding the workforce hard for a Silent Angel to enter... she tells me, with her writing and her sad eyes how useless she feels sometimes, more so after one of her heart attacks, or a bout of fatigue... but she is my Angel, and that is the greatest use she could be to me.
With that necessary background handled, today is Valentine's Day. A day where couples the world over celebrate love. Sara and I have been together for two years, and married for much of that, and would probably point out that we celebrate our love every day were it not a tradition we enjoy. Being slightly dorky, Sara and I, on the day before, follow Japanese custom and make chocolate for one another by hand. Honmei Chocolate, as it is called in Japan, signifies that the recipient is the 'only one' to the girl who offers it.
Valentine's day being Saturday, I get to spend it entirely with her. Of course, we likely will have trouble waking before noon. My Angel is physically weak, so sleeps often, and I go to sleep remarkably late. But from that moment, Valentine's Day will celebrate my Angel.
Sara awakens to see me, beside her as she enjoys to wake, and gently stroking her hair. Of course, I've been up for a while, made food for us to share. After a nice breakfast, we'll watch a show with some sort of cute lesbian implications; knowing us, it'll be Japanese animation and will take a length of time. After a candlelight dinner with fine pasta and sake, we'll exchange our honmei chocolate and retreat to bed. It isn't about gifts for us, it's about love.