Table 41, will you be my Valentine?

Valentine’s Day is approaching next Tuesday and it’s a day to show that special person in your life how much they mean to you and, for me, that person is Gina Gagliano.

I saw Gina for the first time sitting at table 41 at Phil’s Filling Station with her parents when I was working my second job. Her black curly hair and the red lipstick with the brightest smile got my attention immediately. They say you will know that feeling when you see or meet someone. Looking back, and also how I felt when I saw her, I know what that term means.

She started working the night shift with me and I was always enjoyed sitting down at the end of our shift and talking. The more she talked to me, the more I tried to be goofy. Seeing that unbelievable smile she has, the more she had me falling for her.

I finally eased my way into asking her out by becoming Facebook friends with her. We talked back and forth through that more and more until I said, "okay, this is it," and asked her for her number at work one night. I texted her immediately after we left work and asked her out. We planned a night out as friends, but I had other plans for us.

After dinner, we went to Talking Stick Resort to just sit down and talk more. It was then that I asked her if I could give her a kiss, and she said yes.

I locked lips with those lips that got my attention when I first saw her and it was amazing.

we dated for five years and then I said to myself that I never want to lose her, so it's time to put that ring on her finger and make her my wife. I had a big plan on how to do it and it would involve a surprise party for her birthday, along with the proposal.

I organized the surprise party in a room at the Talking Stick Resort with some of her friends and, before I would take her to the room, I was going to pop the question in the same spot we had that first kiss.

I was so nervous that everything would go smoothly, I forgot the small speech I had been rehearsing in my head for weeks. When I couldn't talk, I just opened the box and said, "Will you marry me?" As you all know, the answer was, Yes.

We were married in Fountain Park last March.

My Valentine, Gina Gagliano, is my heart and, for better or worse, will always be in my heart and on this Valentine's I am proud to say that Gina is my Valentine and, even though I don't always express how I feel to her, I want her and the town to know that she is that special someone that we all search for in our lifetime. I love you and will always love you, Gina!

Happy Valentine's Day!