If I Wasn't Married

If I Wasn't Married
by Linda A. Prussen-Razzano

At 24, I considered myself a romantic washout. With one failed engagement under my belt and having rejected two half-hearted proposals of marriage from male friends, I boldly pronounced that I would not get married unless the man of my dreams walked through my front door. Three months later, that's exactly what he did. He accompanied his mother to my parents' house for Easter.

After three months of dating, I knew he would be my husband. A year later, he presented me with the ring I always wanted. Fifteen months later, we celebrated our union in grand style, with an exorbitant price tag to accompany our wedding, cocktail hour, and formal dinner reception. I don't regret a penny we spent, or a single minute of the seven years we have spent together as husband and wife.

I consider myself extremely blessed. I found a man who is hard working, honest, loving, strong, confident, handsome, and wise. Others may look at him and see a rough-hewn silent giant with grease under his fingernails. I look at him and say, "Thank you, God."

I find it amusing when some of my friends fawn and faint over movie actors or television stars. Even my mother, with nearly 50 years of marriage to my father, goes weak-kneed when Mel Gibson comes across the screen. Being attractive is one thing, but it takes something quite different to make my heart go pitter-patter.

If I wasn't married, and presuming these gentlemen weren't either, I could lose my head over:

Mark Levin of the Landmark Legal Foundation. Wit, brilliance, and a command of the law that makes even musty old text and detailed complexities sound exotic and exciting. Listening to him speak is like listening to Beethoven's Symphony No. 9 in D minor. When it's over, you want more, more, more.

David Schippers. This former prosecutor turned Counsel for the House Managers during Clinton's Impeachment impressed me with his integrity, his respect for the rule of law, and his devotion to country. An old-style Democrat, a person for the people, his intrinsic sense of honor places him in high esteem. He is a true white Knight of modern America.

Representative James Rogan of California. Courageously accepting a position that endangered his political standing among his constituents, he nonetheless forged ahead, prompted by a sense of duty. He is articulate, intelligent, dashing, and engaging; it's no wonder my Conservative female friends coined the term "rogasm" in his honor.

Dr. Alan Keyes, Republican candidate for President. In a word: mesmerizing. His ability to draw from a multitude of historical texts, his commanding knowledge of the Constitution, his dexterity in not only articulating his positions but in ripping an opponents' positions to shreds, leaves me breathless. Sigh!

Bill O'Reilly of the O'Reilly Factor. This self-described independent is unwilling to let others filibuster or sermonize. With a quick slice of logic and a grounding in common sense and decency, he easily exposes the flaws in our government and society. News journalists should dream of being just like him when they grow up.

All this being said, I wouldn't trade any of them for my husband. This is a man who purchased a new cable-ready VCR for me, even though our regular VCR was working perfectly, just so I, an archconservative, could tape the Impeachment Trial in the Senate.

Now that, ladies and gentlemen, is love.

Happy Valentine's Day!