Margaret Eldridge:  

Man, NOW, I bet you guys wish you hadn't picked on me so hard...HA! Robbie & Me: I always wanted to be a writer when I grew up. My family and friends thought that was a dumb idea. As it turns out, they were completely incorrect as you can see. This answer comes directly from the 'Story Wizard,' located to the right... That said, regarding inspiration, that would be Hideo Nakata, of course. *************************************** If you can believe that Robert ("Robbie") Mays contacted me after all these years and we're engaged, then I have another story to tell you: We always sort-of kept up with each other after graduation. We'd both married, moved and had other lives, but always maintained a distant friendship. As you know, I married the good doctor and moved to Dubai and he married his college girlfriend. (He has two sons and I have a daughter, Sarah, whom is now 15 going on 16, presently.) He and I have had so many common points and parallels during our youth as well as our adult decisions and lives. He contacted me again, back in January of 2006 and we got together as adults; went on a real live "grown-up date." Of course we'd dated as teens, as much as a teen at 13 to 15years-old can really date each other... He was living in Jacksonville at the time and I was living in Ocala. My dad had just passed away and if you can believe this, before he passed away, he had asked me what had ever become of Robbie Mays. At the time, I didn't consider that a prelude to my life ahead. We started dating in February, right around Valentine's Day (the 11th to be exact...have it right here on my calendar...although we couldn't physically "be together" on the first Valentine's Day due to the obvious geographic situation) and about 10 mos. or so into the relationship, he moved to Ocala. He received the transfer he'd requested so that he would be commuting back and forth between the Orlando AIG office and our home in Ocala. You see, during our dating while he was living in Jacksonville, he had driven back and forth and had used ALL of his vacation days to be able to stay in town for longer periods of time, down here in Ocala... It was the sweetest thing! And after gigs (yes, he's still playing the sax) he would drive from Jax to Ocala (almost three friggin' hours!) and would stay the weekend...or, I would (and of course I ONLY did this like four times in that 10 months!?) drive to Jacksonville and scare myself to death on those interstate roads and bridges...and we'd spend the weekend together at his place in Jacksonville where he was living with his room mates, very cool people to allow me to come and stay every time he invited me. (Thanks, guys.) Our conversations would last for hours; literally to the point where he would stop the conversation, go purchase more minutes and call me back. It was incredible...we would literally talk for hours on end, which is very rare for me, as although I am a great conversationalist, I do not spend much time on the phone and at the time, didn't even talk with my friends on a daily basis...in short, we were each others' best friend. When he moved to Ocala, it was so much fun--we have (due to the fact that we now both work at home) spent way too much time together...so much time, it seems that we have sort-of grown on each other to the point in which he proposed this past new Year's Eve in Cedar Key, "our place." Complete with taking me to the haunted B&B he knew I'd love to popping the question by the water (my little fantasy which he probably had way under zero idea existed) and tricking me into going outside with the "photographer." He incorporated comedy with romance, a rare trait and ability in another human being that I admire and treasure. We, since we've been dating, have so many common traits on so many levels, it's almost spooky! The ring that he gave me even has it's own story...even when I look at my hand, I can see all of the fun and nostalgia that brought us to this point... It took help from Sarah and some serious searching to find the "right" ring. He told me that he'd even considered and had even contacted goldsmiths to create the perfect ring. I won't bore you with the story, but let's just say that I broke down in tears when he got down on one knee and I'd thought that we were "just planning to sit on the beach" so I bent down too, to be eye-level!?...(too funny!!)...and he presented me with the ring. You ha...Expand for more