I'm Published!
Chicken Soup for the Soul True Love
It's the first time I've been included in an anthology!
Stress, excitement, what other
excuses can I give?
Read the story of Steven's proposal and my answer in "Who are you?" below.
Who Are You?
by Sheila Sattler Kale
I would say,” Yes,” if he asked.
I felt sure he would ask, but how long would I have to wait?
Steven is careful in every decision. He researches and plans. What plans was he or wasn’t he making?
It wouldn’t be the first marriage for either of us. In fact, both of our spouses had died from accidents in our sixteenth year of marriage when they were each thirty-six years old, and we both had two children just entering their teens when we became single parents. We discovered this extraordinary coincidence as we chatted after a concert at our church one Sunday night.
Now, it’s a year later. We just left a city-wide prayer service asking God to bless us with rain because the drought is becoming severe. Steven has asked me to share the sunset with him at our park. It is warm; the watered grass gently bows to the breeze blowing across the top of the hill where we sit together watching the setting sun bid us a light-show goodnight.
Steven gets up from the lawn chair. I’m not sure if it’s time to go or exactly what his intentions are because his back is to the street light and his face is in shadow. He kneels down on one knee, takes out a tiny box, opens it and says, “Sheila Dianne, will you marry me?”
I’m totally confused. I planned to say, “Yes.” Of course I want to marry him, but he used my middle name. I want to respond in the same way he asked me; I want to say Steven (whatever ???). I realize I don’t know his middle name. Why can’t I remember it? How can I marry a man when I don’t even know the simplest thing about him like a middle name?
“Sheila? Will you marry me?” Now he sounds concerned. I’ve hesitated too long. Well, now is not the time to admit I don’t know his name. I’ll just have to figure it out somehow. I’ll look at his driver’s license or something. Right now I have to give an answer to this man I’ve grown to love.
“Yes, oh, yes. I will marry you Steven.”
I throw my arms around him and we kiss—and we kiss. Then he slips the simple but elegant ring on my finger. I’m amazed it fits perfectly.
He tells me, “I measured it against a ring I saw at your house. It was a choice between two rings but this one looks more like you—simple and beautiful.”
I know why I’m going to marry him—but not before I find out his middle name.
We reluctantly leave our peaceful park to go home.
We’re just turning the corner to exit the park when I remember. I do know his middle name. Of course, I know his middle name! I can’t suppress a giggle.
He looks over with the one eyebrow raised, “Are you going to share the fun?” he asks.
I’m caught.
Now laughing full out I say, “I do know your middle name. I always knew your middle name. It’s Steven. It’s your first name I couldn’t remember! You are Frederic Steven Kale.”
“Yeah?”
I explain why I hesitated when he asked me the first time to marry him. We both laugh. Especially as he recounts, “One of the first times I talked with you I asked for your vote on whether I should go by my first name. Remember? I just moved here. Since I moved to Fredericksburg, I wondered if I should be known as Frederic from Fredericksburg. You and almost everybody else agreed I didn’t ‘look’ like a Frederic.”
Steven loves to tease me about how I made him ask me twice as if I were testing him to see if he would.
You never know why things happen. Recently we laughed again with each other as we shared the story while getting acquainted with a new friend over dinner.
She looked stunned. “Two nights ago I had an awful fight with my fiancé because I thought he didn’t care enough to remember my middle name.” Looking down at the table, she said, “Maybe it isn’t that big a deal. Maybe other things are a lot more important.”
Drop by The Closer Walk for a signed copy anytime!
100 other great stories are in Chicken soup True Love
official news release
Real romance is alive and well
Chicken Soup for the Soul uncovers true love
COS COB,
Sally,” love stories have made us laugh and cry for centuries. There is a door in everyone’s heart that
opens to the notion of true love.
Chicken Soup for the Soul: True Love ( $14.95) is a fun, new read about dating, romance, love and marriage,
guaranteedto inspire a renewed search for that special someone, or open your heart a little more to the one you
already love.
Read fascinating stories about how couples met, when “they knew,” incredible good and bad dates,
imaginative proposals, wedding day adventures, second chances, the ones that got away, and all the
other ups and downs that come hand-in-hand with true love, including great examples of how to
keep relationships strong.
“True love is a wondrous and sometime perplexing thing, and we relish the opportunity to hear
others’ stories,” says Amy Newmark, Chicken Soup for the Soul publisher and co-author of the
book. “Whether it’s a disastrous date we have to share with our friends, or the realization that you
might have just found the woman or man of your dreams, sharing our triumphs and defeats in the
game of love is part of what makes us human.”
From the beloved, bestselling Chicken Soup for the Soul brand, Chicken Soup for the Soul: True Love is
the latest addition to their popular collection of love stories, featuring completely new tales from
people of all walks of life.
To schedule an interview, or to receive a review copy of Chicken Soup for the Soul: True Love,
please contact James Gubera at (512) 478-2028 ext. 203 or jgubera@phenixpublicity.com. or talk to me, Sheila Sattler-Kale
