We were finally through the South Entrance Station. After hours on a plane and more hours in a stereotypical, economy rental car, I was ready to stretch my legs and walk around for a while. "Paige, are you so excited to see the big hole in the ground?" I said innocently to the woman who sat unamused beside me.

"If you call it that again I'll put you in a hole in the ground," she said with the sweetest smile she could muster. Paige was beautiful even when she was tired from travel and her smile was the first thing that drew me to her. She had a smile that could turn a bad day around in an instant.

"We've only been married for like a day and you're already threatening me. This does not bode well." In reality, she was patient and kind and I knew that I had won the marriage lottery when she said yes. I pulled into a parking spot, turned off the car, and began to unbuckle. I looked over at her and I could see the excitement tinged with playful annoyance at my tired musings. I don't blame her. My jokes tend to go from good to dad when I'm tired.

"Haven't you ever heard of 'happy wife, happy life', Theodore? Wasn't that in the vows or something?" She said as she unbuckled and got her things together to leave the car, "I'm pretty sure I heard you promise something along those lines."

"I always heard it as 'slightly irritated wife, hilarious life' so you may have misheard in the heat of the moment. Also, you already said I do. No take-backsies." We left the car and started walking towards the various buildings. I took her hand in mine and squeezed just tight enough to let her know I didn't want to let go anytime soon. Plus, it would be harder for her to run away from my bad jokes that way.

Paige and I met at the library where she works about a year and a half ago. I was doing research for a paper and didn't want to buy another book since I was a poor college student. She had already graduated last Spring and being a librarian was her dream job. I walked up to her station and nervously said, "I need a book please." Then I just stared at her awkwardly as I died inside. I'd say I'm a fairly average-looking guy like God just hit the "randomize" button a couple of times during character creation and kept the first one that would make it through high school unnoticed, but not a target. This meant that I had to rely on my charm and wit to make an impression with the opposite sex and just now they left me scared and alone.

She smiled at me and broke the awkward silence. "Well, you've come to the right place. We've got more volumes than a rock concert," she saw the confused smile on my face, "More stories than the New York City skyline."

At this point, I was figuring out how to ask her to marry me, but my brain and mouth were no longer functional. I stood there smiling like an idiot unsure of how to work the muscles that make sound come out of me.

"Maybe a book on communication?" she said and went back to smiling at me now with brows raised as if hoping for a witty response or maybe just any response. Time seemed to slow with each passing second. I didn't want the interaction to end, just my ineptitude. My brain screamed at me to say something charming.

I snapped back to reality. "Sorry, I have difficulty speaking to pretty girls... women... uh, people," panic consumed me. Did I think that was a good line? What is wrong with me?

"Don't worry about it. I find it difficult to talk to pretty boy man people as well. I seem to be doing okay though at the current moment. Is there a specific book you are looking for?" She said with a wink and I was finally able to verbalize the book's title and author. After searching in the database she wrote down the info I needed and pointed me in the right direction to locate it.

I thanked her and walked away dejected and feeling like I had just lost the big game and let down my ancestors in one fell swoop. I looked at the paper she had written the book information on and saw a smiley face with a phone number written by it. Either she felt bad for my absolute lack of game or, much less likely, thought I was cute in my bumbling idiocy. I don't remember caring why she gave me her number only that I would make sure she never regretted it.

I called after the appropriate amount of time and we went on a few dates. We both knew fairly early on that we were a good match. We were engaged within a year and were married within two years of meeting. I fell hard and couldn't wait to spend the rest of my life with her. I loved our witty exchanges and how we playfully dug at each other ever since first contact. I'd spend the rest of my life loving this woman.

We walked to the edge of the Southern Rim and looked out over the expansive canyon. It was one of the most beautiful things I had ever seen. "It really makes you feel large and significant," I slowly swept my gaze from one side of the canyon to the other. I couldn't even fathom the vastness of it.

Paige stood there in silence taking in the sights with a look of awe and contentment. I could tell she was pleased that we ended up choosing Northern Arizona as our honeymoon destination. We both wanted to pick a location that wasn't a cliche honeymoon spot and it was down to either the Grand Canyon or Yellowstone National Park since we both enjoyed the great outdoors.

I was especially excited to visit Lowell Observatory later that day close to where we were staying in Flagstaff. I may have made it a point to mention the place where Pluto was discovered and talk about how messed up it was to do what they did to Pluto after over 75 years of full planethood on the drive up. We were both excited to look up at the stars together in a place with less light pollution than back home.

We stood there quietly staring at the canyon. She finally spoke after a few more moments of my awed silence. "Seeing the vastness of the empty space here has reminded me of something very important," she paused deep in thought or maybe for dramatic effect.

Seeing it as an opportunity to wax poetic and impress my new bride I matched her introspective tone. "The vastness of the emptiness can mirror life if we don't fill it with everything that is meaningful to humanity. Love, kindness, and empathy towards our fellow man," I said looking over at her with what I could only assume was a very punchable face.

"No," she looked over not at all impressed by my attempt, "I'm hungry."