I call this story “Love at the Library,” but if you manage to make it through the whole thing, you’ll see that’s not quite accurate. I chose the title because we’ve just celebrated Valentine’s Day and because February is National Library Lovers Month.

Also, romance does get a couple of mentions and there is a library involved. But mostly though, I thought calling it “Love at the Library” might make it sound more interesting than it actually is. 

I spent a fair amount of time at the library when I attended Augustana University in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. Believe it or not, I was a good student — mostly. But the bigger issue was that my roommate had a boyfriend. The romantic life of roommates has sent more students to the library than algebra quizzes and English tests ever have.

Like most libraries, Augustana’s had a variety of fine art on display, most of which I don’t recall. I’d like to say that’s because I was so focused on my studies but I hate to lie this early in my story.

The truth is, I’m not the most visual person in the world. I once wore two different shoes to work. And on several occasions, I’ve attempted to get into the wrong car because it looked so much like mine — gray with four wheels.

I admit these things to you so you’ll know just how remarkable it is that I not only noticed a particular painting at the university library, but that I can still picture it in my mind’s eye. The painting featured a long hallway with large black and white tiles on the floor and a green plant hanging from the ceiling.

A seagull was flying toward the sun at the end of the hallway and two large balls, a blue one and a red one, were rolling in the same direction. I know nothing about such things, but I suppose the artist was demonstrating perspective — the seagull flying and balls rolling toward the sun and the tiles getting smaller and smaller.

To be completely honest, after I left Augie, I remembered the bird as being a dove, not a seagull. That notion was corrected some years later. And it seems like a pretty minor mistake when you consider the above-mentioned shoe incident.

Anyway, I’m not sure why I was so drawn to that painting. Maybe to me it represented a light at the end of the tunnel that was my academic existence. Or maybe its geometric neatness appealed to me at a time when I felt overwhelmed by the busyness of college life. Or maybe it was magic.

About five years after I graduated, I happened to meet a charming, handsome guy who was working as a picture framer at an art gallery in my community. It might not have been love at first sight, but it was an instant crush. I told you the story involved romance. 

We chatted about this and that and I discovered that he had also graduated from Augustana, though seven years before I had. I learned that he had studied art and at some point in the relationship that followed, I learned that he had painted the painting I’d loved so much back at Augustana. So…I went ahead and married him.

Dorothy Rosby is the author of I Used to Think I Was Not That Bad and Then I Got to Know Me Better and other books. Contact her at www.dorothyrosby.com/contact.