Texas journalist, Sheila Taylor Wells writes a weekly lifestyles column as well as a bi-weekly travel column for the Fort Worth Star -Telegram. Journeywoman is so pleased to publish an excerpt from her Valentine's Day column "love is in the air" -- an interview with pilot Chris Manno of Bedford, Texas. In it, Chris explains....

Since I spend half my life in the air, seems only logical that I'd meet the woman of my dreams on an airplane, right? But I hadn't, through some 18 years of flying.

Then, Oct. 15, 1994, I showed up for a flight to Des Moines. I wasn't looking to meet someone special, and in fact, I was looking NOT to meet someone. I'd survived the end of a long relationship in May and figured to take the rest of the year off, dating some, but nothing serious.

At the gate, I found the No 1 flight attendant and introduced myself as the captain, introduced my trusty co-pilot, then discussed the flight plan and the weather. Then SHE walked up--self-confident, gorgeous, smiling--and introduced herself as a member of the crew. Her smile went right through me. Lightening struck, smoking hole through my head and heart, instantly.

A hometown Fort Worth girl, she was divorced, in her 30's, with a degree in engineering, but could talk literature and loved endurance athletics. Five years with American; I had 10. We had everything in common in tastes, beliefs, interests, you name it--including, as we discovered gradually, first, last and middle initials, plus even the same middle name. By the third day, it was not a question of if, but when we'd see each other again.

Two weeks later, we flew to Memphis to do Halloween at B.B. King's Blues Club. Halfway through the night, Preston Shannon, the headline act, picked us from a packed house and announced, "We're going to play a special song for the two lovers in the back."

We've come a long way in one year. She's become my best friend and most trusted companion. As much as possible, we arrange to fly together as a crew, but if only one of us is scheduled to fly, the other often goes along.

Between October and the time of this writing, we've flown thousands of miles, coast to coast, north to south, and of course, to the moon and beyond in our hearts. We got married on New Year's Eve. Her smile still goes right through me, and I expect it always will.

I've figured out why first dates don't work any better than they do. It's because they take place in restaurants. Women are weird and confused and unhappy about food, and men are weird and confused and unhappy about money, yet off they go, the minute they meet, to where you use money to buy food.

Adair Lara, Welcome to Earth, Mom (1992)

(Source: The New Beacon Book of Quotations by Women)