Rich in love

I was born poor, dirt poor. My mother could barely make ends meet to support six small children on her full-time job as a housekeeper at a motel. Because I grew up poor I had an unquenchable thirst to make a lot of money. It became my obsession. Somewhere in the back of my mind I told myself, money first, then maybe love. I vowed not to get into any serious relationship with a woman until I had achieved my goal, because I viewed love as a major distraction. Being uneducated I knew I would have to work twice as hard. I dropped out of high school when I was 17 and joined the Army. Immediately I was stationed in Germany. I got to see places in Europe that people only dream about or read about in magazines. I used my military experience to get a free education. When my service was over I earned a Bachelor's Degree in Business Administration. Within 6 months I was hired on at a company as a Manager. Within 2 years I became Vice President of Operations. 2 years after that I quit the company to start my own business. A year later and I had finally done it. I had achieved my lifelong dream. But I wasn't happy. I couldn't understand why I wasn't more excited about it. Then a trip to Hawaii with a friend changed it all for me.My friend Doug and I took a trip to Maui over the Christmas Holiday in 2002. He was trying to cheer me up because I had told him about my predicament. We did the typical tourist thing and attended a luau the first night. Sitting next to me was this gorgeous, but quiet woman. I tried talking to her and every time I did she said nothing. A lady at the other end of the table, who turned out to be her sister, began talking to her in sign language. She was deaf. All through dinner I thought about how I could convey my attraction for her. Being outgoing I decided to try something silly. While hula dancers performed for us I scooped her up from the table and began to hula dance. She giggled the whole time. Before we knew it everyone at our table sprung from the table and began hula dancing too. After dinner I took her hand and pointed to the beach with my other one. She smiled and nodded her head, "Yes". We walked barefoot under the stars along the beach that night, both of us silent and unable to communicate to the other. I couldn't take my eyes off her. I felt the happiest I had in years. As I glanced up at the moon I thought about my life up until that point. What I thought I wanted was the thing I didn't need, and what I thought I didn't need was the thing I now, truly wanted, love. I'm rich in love.