Let me preface’my story by repeating some ludicrous advice my tnom gave me when I was a little girl: "someday you will see a man across the room and you will know he is the one.

Well, I'd made it to my mid-30's without getting remotely close to finding "the one," let alone in a casual glance across the room. Instead, I spend too many years in relationships with the wrong men. Then, just bcforc the millennium, a new job and a desire to be nearer to my sister prompted a move from Chicago to Houston. With all this "clean start" symbolism, I resolved never again to date any man who was not marriage material. This meant I went on very few first dates and even fewer second ones.

One night I joined a group of friends -all of them coupled, most of them ill一matched--at a popular Itouston restaurant. They were giving me grief about not dating. "You should just do it for the heck of it." thev said.

"Why should I waste my time and their money if 1 know I am not interested" I responded. "It meet a guy who's my type. I will go."

They persisW d. "Fine, what's your type'"

I had been watching a guy across the room (score for mom) who remind me of my dad: big, well dressed and telling stories with hands flailing the air, much to the delight of his dinner companions, all men in suits and presumably his business associates, 1 pointed.、‘him,’1 told my friends. "I'd }o out mith him."

Well, go introduce yourself," they urged

I would not do such a thing. 1 informed them.

"But what if you never sec him again" they asked.

Then I will meet someone else，“I said. with impeccable logic，”I'm simply slowing you my type."

My friend would have none of it. Taskma,ter Emily suddenly strode across the room and tapped Mr. Right on the shoulder. "Are you gay''" she suddenly strode across the room and asked.

"Uh, no," he said, a bit warily

"Are you married?"family continued.

"No." he said, amused now.

"Good," she said. "That blonde over there", pointing to me while my face turned red as a beet. wants to meet you”

“Cool”he replied and walked straight to our table. pulled up spare chair and stuck out his hand. "I-li. I'm Rick."

A year after I spotted him across the room,Rick proposed .Six month later,we were married. At our rehearsal dinner, Rick regaled the guest with the story of how we met-his version,which has me knocking over chairs. crawling tables and body-slamming waiters to intruduce myself.

We will soon celebrate our third wedding anniversary and are planning to have children-we already have a chocolate Labrador. My mom claims the pooch will trigger my maternal instincts and help me get pregnant.

But then what does she know?

在讲我的故事之前，先重温一下我小时候妈妈的一句玩笑话:“有一天，你会看到那个人就在屋子的另一端，你将知道他就是你所要找的人”

唉，我直到快35r还丝毫没有看到“川S个人”的影子，更不用说穿过屋子的随意一瞥_相反我在不适合自己的人身上浪费了太多时间于是，就在千禧前夕，一份新下作及想要和妞姐住近·点的想法促使我从芝加哥搬到了休斯敦基于此有象征意义的“全新开始”，我决定再也不和非结婚对象约会这意味着我和男人初次约会非常少，而能继续交往的就少之又少了.

一天晚上，在休斯敦一家有名的饭店，我和一帮朋友聚会—他们都已结婚，虽然大多数并不相配。他们都为我鲜有约会而担心不已，他们说“至少你该去试试”

“如果我知道自己并没有什么兴趣，为什么要浪费自己的时间，还要让他们花钱”我回答道。“如果我遇到了自己喜欢的类型，我会去的。

他们穷追不舍:“好啊，哪种类型是你想要的?”

我一直注视这屋子另一边的人(妈妈说对了)，他令我想起了我爸爸:体格结实，穿着讲究，说话时手舞足蹈，令同桌的人十分愉快。所有人都西装革履，大概都是他的商业伙伴我指着他说道:“他，我想和他约会”

“那就去认识他啊。”他们催促道。

而我告诉他们，我不会那样做

“但要是你今后都见不到他呢”

"那么我会遇到其他人，”我强词夺理道。“我只是让你们知道我想要的类型”

我的朋友都不同意我的想法行动派的艾米莉突然穿过屋子，拍着那位“理想丈夫”的肩膀问道:"你是同性恋吗?”

“呢。不，”他有此警惕

“你结婚户吗.,”艾米莉接着问道。

“没有”他回答觉得有点好玩。

“太好了”，她说，然后指向我，顿时我的脸红得像甜菜似的，“那个金发美女想认识你。”

“不错啊，”他答道，然后径直走向我们的桌子，拉开一张空椅子，伸出手，“嘿，我是里克。”

在我在那间屋子的另一端发现他一年后，里克向我求婚了，6个月后，我们结婚了。在我们婚礼彩排的晚上，他和来宾分享了我们相遇的故事—按他的版本，说我介绍自己时是如何又撞椅子，又爬桌子，又不小心撞到服务员身上的。

很快我们就要庆祝结婚三周年了，同时也在计划要孩子—虽然我们已经有了一只巧克力色的拉布拉多狗，妈妈称养狗会激发我的母性本能，帮我尽快怀孕。

但是接下来她还知道什么?