Love Stories
A.
Our love story begins when we were three back in nursery school. We were friends through our grade school. In the 4th grade, I wrote a letter expressing how cute and beautiful his eyes were and if he might like me back. Through out high school we still remained best of friends. We attended our senior prom together but parted ways after that as a couple. Four years later we reunited and have been together ever since – 12 years today. It will be ten years this June since we married, we have three beautiful children. Writing that letter at nine years old although very forward was one of the best things I did. It brought me closer to my love, my husband.
B. WINNER
Every day I feel as excited as the first day we met, but feel as though we have known each other forever. At times, I wish we had met a lot earlier in life, but look forward to all the days we still have to spend together.
Not everyone can boast about falling in love after being put on one’s butt in karate. You weren’t afraid to show your stuff, but always lent a helping hand up. I knew you were the one for me when were comfortable sweating and sparring together on the karate mat and also that first I went to your apartment and you were wearing old cut off sweat pants and a tank top. You were saying “take me as I am because this is me!” Gladly!
After 10 years of marriage, both second ones for each of us, every day is still fun, exciting, and not always predictable. Our “dates” are always enjoyable and people make fun of us because we still hold hands and kiss and spend hours talking at our favorite dinner spot, Union Restaurant! Their jealousy is the greatest compliment. I sincerely hope that another 10,20, 50 and more years go by like the last ten where we enjoy each other’s company and we are best friends and lovers (can I say that here?), but I hope the years to come go more slowly as I cannot image a breath without you!
C.
Our love story is truly unique: Chris and I were on a double date at Yankee Stadium. Chris was with his current girlfriend at the time and I was with one of Chris’s friends. As the four of us were watching the game from the right field, Randy Velarde caught a high fly ball directly in front of us. Chris and I happened to be seated next to each other, and the next thing we knew our faces were on the big screen together. I couldn’t help but think what a great couple we made. Coincidentally a few weeks later our picture appeared in Sports Illustrated behind Randy Velarde making that very catch. I remember looking at that picture and finding myself so very attracted to Chris, but I didn’t know how I was going to pursue this.
As luck would have it, shortly after that I happened to run into Chris at the mall. We stopped to talk and he asked me if I would like to join him for lunch. Of course I accepted. About halfway through lunch he brought up the subject of our pictures in the magazine and on the big stadium screen. To my surprise he said exactly what I had been thinking, that we looked great together. So I suggested that it would be a shame if such a great looking couple went off on their separate ways. We began dating and it wasn’t long before we both knew that this relationship was going to last. Looking back, I think it was definitely “love at first sight”.
Chris proposed to me one year later at the very place we first laid eyes on each other, Yankee Stadium. When all the fans stood for the 7th inning stretch, Chris got down on one knee and presented me with the most gorgeous engagement ring. It only took about half a second for me to say “yes”.
True love is not something that everyone is lucky enough to find. Chris and I were not only lucky enough to find it, but we are still so very much in love. The qualities about Chris that made me fall in love with him in the first place are the very things that keep our love alive. His warmth, his kindness, and his way of always making me feel so very special are what keeps our love growing.
D.
I was 9 yrs old when I met "Willie". We didn't live on the same block and we went to different schools, but we had mutual friends. I liked Willie immediately. He was shy, dark hair, slim and cute! As years went by, I liked him more and more. But, Willie appeared to have no interest in me. Almost daily, I would see him with the guys we were friends with. It was the winter of 69, I was almost 16 yrs old when I got the courage to tell our friends how I felt about Willie and I asked that they help set me up with him. One day, a few of the guys brought Willie around where I lived but, Willie hardly looked at me. But, his friend "John" who was with Willie began to talk to me and asked me for my telephone number. A few days later, John called me, but all I can talk about was Willie. John continued to call me for about a week, but I had no interest in John, I wanted Willie. Then one day, my phone rang and it was Willie. Willie told me he was with John everytime John called me and that he had memorized my phone number. OMG, was so I happy! We were inseparable after that. Then during the summer of 1970, my parents decided to move back to PR. I was a senior in high school and going steady with Willie without my parents knowledge. My parents were strict and I didn't know how to tell them that I had a boyfriend and that I didn't want to relocate. One day Willie got the courage to meet with my father and tell him that he loved me and wanted to marry me. My father looked at him and said, how will you provide for her? Willie replied "I will get a job". At the time we were both in high school and my father replied back "she's going with me to PR to finish school and if you still love her when she graduates, you'll know where to find her". We left for PR that summer and a couple of months later, Willie began to work in the Post Office.
Nine months later, Willie called my father and asked for my hand in marriage. I graduated high school in May and in June 1971, 11 months from the date I left NY, Willie and his family flew to PR for our wedding and brought me back to NY with him. I was 17 yrs old and Willie was 18 yrs old. We still call each other "honey" just like we did back in 1969 and I'm very proud to say that we'll be married 39 years this summer. "Willie" was the love of my life back then and remains the love of my life today.
We have two beautiful daughters and 2 precious grandchildren.
E.
I was at Newark Airport talking on a Pay phone, remember those things. I had my back to the wall so that I could watch who walked by. I was dressed in jeans, sneakers, button down shirt and long rain coat. I was very casual. Over to the next phone came a man, a beautiful man wearing a pin stripped suit, a vest, a perfectly matched tie and dress shoes. He was tan and had dark hair; he was perfect. I was fascinated because being the casual type I could not figure out how someone could look so perfect. I watched him out of the corner of my eye as he dialed his number and started to talk. Then I noticed that there was something wrong with the perfect picture. The man had a piece of lint on his sleeve. It just shouldn’t be there so without thinking I reached out and carefully removed the offending piece. Then Mr. Perfect turned and looked at me (I didn’t think he’d felt me lift the lint) and he smiled. Of course I smiled back and he said, “Would you like some stock quotes?” I answered: “No, I’m into horses.” So he looked back at the phone and continued talking as did I. When he hung up he looked at me and then he turned and walked away, got into a line and disappeared to board his plane. A few minutes later he came back, smiled and handed me a card. I smiled back, glanced at the card and put it away. Three weeks later I was at dinner in Florida with my soon to be ex-in-laws and I told them about the man at the airport who was a financial adviser and that since I was about to be a single mom maybe he could help me. As I passed his card across the table my daughter noticed writing on the back. Grabbing back the card I read, “I feel like the quarterback who made the incomplete forward pass. If you’re interested, please call. Gary” Of course I was interested: Who was this person? So the next day I called: he was on the phone. I called the next day. He was on the radio, and after that he was with a client. So on the third day I said to his secretary: “Tell him it’s the girl from the airport pay phone and if he doesn’t want to talk ok but just let me know so that I can stop calling.”Two seconds later Gary got on the phone, “ Don’t hang up. I’ll be right back, I didn’t know your name, I didn’t know how to reach you.”
So it began………
About three weeks later we had a first date, we met back at Newark airport and went to a quiet little restaurant near-by. I remember kissing him goodbye in the parking lot. The next date was in NYC driving from mid-town for drinks down to the village for dinner. A week later he invited me to his house to see where he worked and that he had a real home and life outside Newark Airport.
One month later….
“I have a business trip to France, Monte Carlo, would you want to come with me?” And that’s when we fell in love. Have you ever had dinner for five hours, wished it would last five more. Well the dinner couldn’t last forever, but that dinner was 22 years ago and we are still together. It took us along time to marry, 15 years to be exact because of all that had affected us before we met; but six years ago we made a final commitment. Now we are together all the time and our dining has changed from Monte Carlo to the Union. And I wonder as I write this if Paolo would mind if we just sat there for five hours, enjoying…..I think not.
F.
10 years ago, at my Sweet Sixteen, the boy that I had the biggest crush on asked me to be his girlfriend while we were dancing to the song “Thank God I Found You”.
By: Mariah Carey. We stayed together for my junior and senior years at North Rockland High School, and then spent 4 years away in college together. We got engaged a couple years after college at the same place his senior prom was. Last July, we got married and we danced for the first time as husband and wife to the song that brought us together, “Thank God I Found You”.
G.
Here is our story; I am the Sales Mgr. for Bakkermarine.com in PA. In March of 1996, while working a boat show in Middletown, NY, I met my wife Donna, in fact on that Sunday; I sold her a boat package. In September of the same year, we met again, casually went out, and fell head over heels in love. Unknown to me at the time, Donna was already head over heels the day she met me. To commemorate our meeting and our love, along with Donna’s birthday, I secured a Jacuzzi suite in Middletown, while working the show in 1997. I placed the key and the location in her car, left flowers, champagne & strawberries, & birthday gifts in the room. After working the show, came back to the suite, had champagne & strawberries in the whirlpool, I sang love song & birthday songs to Donna, made love and spent a great night together. 2010 will be 13-14 years for us and this past weekend, we did this again, but this time in a little known hideaway in Pike County PA.
H.
After falling in love with Tina I had made the decision to ask her to marry me during a trip to Santa Fe one summer. I planned to pop her the question in a different way to make it romantic and memorable, we are both artists and have a love of rock geology. I found a mineral shop in town where I brought a crystal filled geode. The split crystal geode had room for me to insert a rolled up note saying “Will You Marry Me”. The next day driving to TAOS we stopped on the roadside at a beautiful rock out cropping. I pulled out my geode from my pocket and said, “Look Tina, I found a geode”. She took the stoned opened the note and said “yes!” as we looked up to the sky we witnessed a dazzling double rainbow. A sign of a magic marriage.
I.
My husband, Bob and I, practically grew up together. We are both from Brooklyn, New York. Our parents even knew each other. My father was an attorney and represented Bob’s father and his family in some family matter. Bob and I attended the same temple in Brooklyn and we each went to each other’s Bar and Bat Mitzvahs. Actually, they were a week apart. I was twelve years old and Bob was thirteen, and after Bar Mitzvahs we hadn’t seen each other for five years. We both ended up working in a day camp in Brooklyn. Well, as they say, we fell in love we each other and four years later we got married. We’ve been married for 32 years and we still in love with each other. Another reason we should win, besides having a great story, March 9th is our daughter’s birthday. Thank you for reading this.
J.
Where for art thou love I found in life?
Amid all the toils and the strife.
traversing many years in life
hoping to discover a companion
to be my wife.
When like magical love imagined,
as vine to tree it took root and came to be.
From earth, moon, sun, and stars,
love like affinity has no boundary.
How and why it happened is fate’s destiny.
Never questioned it was meant to be.
Ours to share the precious gift of memories meant to be.
K.
A good friend of mine and her boyfriend thought I would be a great match for his roommate. They arranged a dinner at his house for us. When I walked in I met his roommate we felt immediately connected. I asked our mutual friend why he didn’t fix me up with him and he replied “oh you don’t want to date him”. The blind date roommate took my number but never called, however the other roommate did and we have since together for 12 year.
L.
In June 1977, in our 21st year, my best girlfriend & I fulfilled our dream of going to London on vacation. After we were there for a few days, we went to the local pub near our hotel to have a drink. Across at the bar from where we sat this man, tall, blue eyes, strikingly beautiful. I was so attracted to him I knew I would have meet him. I walked up to him and introduced myself and started a conversation with him-he was also there with his friend who I immediately introduced to my friend. Of course they had those wonderful British accents and were just blown away. We spent the next four days together getting to know each other. They took us sightseeing; we celebrated the Queens Jubilee watching fireworks, and we went to dinner and hung out together and it was the most wonderful time of my life. When it was time to leave my friend was absolutely devastated- she and this guy had become really attached to each other. I too was very infatuated with new friend, but I more or less knew I would probably never see him again.
After being back home in New York for a few days, the phone rang and it was him. We expressed our feelings for each other and spent the rest of that summer making long distance phone calls to each other and writing letters and sending tape recordings. My parents of course, thought I was crazy. My friend was doing the same, and it was finally decided that she would return to London in September and get engaged because he had proposed to her. I too went back to London to attend her wedding in October, and a week later, I too received an engagement ring on Halloween night. We lived together for 1 year and were married. I have been happily married to this man for 31 years. We lived in London for many years; both my children were both there and are dual-nationals. We moved to Rockland in 1988 and my husband finally became an American Citizen this past August 2009.
M.
There are love stories, enveloped in warn sentiments and endearing moments- and there are stories of love, where the experiences recounted are as much an expression of commitment and purpose as they are an expression of emotion. Love which results from these qualities is both well earned and long-lasting. Ours is one such story.
Our story began before we even realized it. We met in sixth grade at Farley Middle School. By high school we were connected through friends, classes, and- because of a move by both families- the same Stony Point neighborhood.
With the advantage of proximity, our friendship strengthened. We had opportunities for school- day carpooling, weekend socializing, and even the occasional snow day. High School allowed us to become “best friends,” which was precisely our intention as we embarked to the same college in 1999.
Our Years at Fordham were critical not only to continued development of our friendship, but to the development of our individual interests and character. When times were challenging, we sought each other’s counsel and comfort, never realizing how rare it was to have someone we could always rely on.
Perhaps a result of our growing respect for the adults we were both becoming, our lives converged more directly when we finally admitted the degree of our long-held admirations and began a formal relationship.
It is at this point that our story diverges from classic form. Rather than move quickly into the pursuits of family life, we took a step back and saw there was more we wanted to do before “settling down”. For Gail, it was graduate school, and for Matthew, it was starting a business. As both activities progressed, we continued to seek each other’s counsel and support, as neither endeavor came easy. With both of us strongly engaged in our work, staying connected personally took specific attention, patience, and understanding.
As a result of our patient efforts, we now celebrate a law degree and NYS clerkship for Gail, a successful and expanding practice for Matthew, and the opportunity to contribute to the community in which we live.
As we’ve continued to develop our own talents, perspectives, and values, we’ve likewise strengthened the characteristics that brought us together. Those same qualities now bind us, and have allowed us to know that no challenged, current or future is likely to disrupt a shared love for who we are as individuals and who we are able to be as a couple. This year, we celebrate Gail’s law school graduation and clerkship, and Matthew’s addition of a business partner. The coming year will be marked by our decision to expand our relationship in a new community with new opportunities.
No enduring love story is accidental. Our was borne of opportunity, but borne of opportunity, but built with intention and strengthened through a shared vision and an unending commitment of support, companionship, and trust. The very finest of stories is one that is ongoing, we celebrate this Valentine’s day our own continuing story of love.
N.
Every couple has a story. Some seem more romantic and unique than others. When I think about famous couples both on the screen and off, it makes me further question my own romantic story. I mean who can really compete with Romeo and Juliet or Brangelina for that matter? Even though I may not be a character in a Shakespeare play or a famous Hollywood actress, I do have my own story to share.
Three years ago, when Bryan and I first met, I had no idea this ordinary evening would be the night I would always remember (and one day be writing about). Maybe the stars really were aligned like they so often are in romantic stories. Or, maybe I just had a sister who had a passion for matchmaking, and that night Bryan and I happened to both be in her sights. Regardless of the reason, we met that evening and, like they say in the movies, the rest was history!
We hit it off and got to know each other. Bryan was golf professional, but when I met him he was transitioning back to law, where he had initially earned his degree. He began studying full time for the New York Bar exam, and things were not going well for him. Despite the lows, I saw so much potential in him. He had dreams and aspirations, and I couldn’t wait to see what he would do with his life. I stood by him through the many months he studied and waited for his test results. I was there for the setbacks, but I was also there to help him celebrate his hard work.
In our years together, Bryan has supported me in much the same way. While with him I celebrated my tenure as a teacher. I also ran my first marathon. In fact, Bryan was the one there when injury struck just one month before the race. He was also there a year later when I crossed the finish line for the very first time. And, although we both would have probably achieved our goals with or without each other, I am glad I had Bryan cheering me on through the good and the not so good times.
As simple as it may sound, Bryan and I manage to bring out the best in each other. He makes me want to be a better person, and since I met him I believe I have become a better person. So, when Bryan showed up at my door this past December with a dozen red roses asking me to marry him, my decision was easy. I knew he was the one I wanted to take on life with. We make a great team and it’s one of the reasons I fell so in love with him.
Bryan and I may not have the most romantic love story ever written, but I do believe our story is a real one, and if nothing else, it is our unique one. Therefore, my vote for the best love story of the year is not Romeo and Juliet or Brangelina for that matter. I vote for Kristen and Bryan in 2010. I believe they have a very bright future!
O.
April 12, 1969- I had just returned from a family vacation to Illinois to visit my grandparents when my brother took me to the bowling alley where he was meeting some friends and I met the love of my life. He strolled in with his cousin- tall, skinny with the biggest, sexiest blue eyes I had ever encountered. One look and I was in love.
Through our courtship, I learned about our many differences. He is Italian/Slovak to my German/Irish Heritage. I was a “hippie”; he was a “greaser”. I listened to Simon and Garfunkel or the Beatles; he preferred Jay and the Americans. He attended Catholic school before graduating from Haverstraw High School (by the skin of his teeth). I am Methodist, went to publics schools only and graduated from Nyack High School with honors. He enjoyed watching sports and I enjoyed playing sports. He went to trade school to become an electrician; I was destined for med school (though I never attended). His mom owned and ran a successful store downtown and his dad was in construction. My parents were both school teachers. And the day we met, I was just 14 and he was 18!!
Despite our differences, our love for each other just kept growing. He was and still is chivalrous. He opens the doors for me and brings me flowers just because. While we were dating, he would bring my little sister a flower and now he often treats our daughter to a stem or two. Through the birth of our four children and my subsequent weight gain, he still saw me as the most beautiful woman in his life. He is courteous, thoughtful, caring and devoted and adores our grandson. We never go to bed mad at each other, still hold hands when we walk, kiss each other, and express our love to each other with words or backrubs or a specially cooked meal and even sometimes a delightful dinner at Union Restaurant!
Not that our forty years have always been a bed of roses. We have had to deal with a few personal issues, issues that would have driven marriages apart. But our relationship has been strengthened. Our son was diagnosed at an early age with epilepsy. We faced his two brain surgeries together, not realizing that these surgeries would create issues that no child, parent or family should have to face. But this, too, brought us greater strength as we become involved in epilepsy and mental health advocacy as a team. Caring for elderly and ill extended family has been met with support and understanding. The economy and the many times we faced unemployment could have been a breaking point. But the wonderful skills my husband learned from his father, have gotten us over many financial hurdles.
Wed just six days after my eighteenth birthday, we married for better or worse, for richer or poorer, in sickness and in health – and have pledged to keep our wedding vows and our love alive, in good times and bad.
P.
It was a Sunday
And I had just gotten off work
From the coal yard.
I picked up Tyler
For our 4:30-8:30 visit
He was blonde and three.
And I was lonely
And afraid of not knowing about
My life or even tomorrow.
And I drove the black and silver ford
To my brother’s where the quiet
And the use of the laundry
Was a gift.
Then you were there
And you spoke first
Which turned the key to my soul
And I was smitten.
You wore white, and denim,
And canvas sneakers and
Smiled like the sun as your words
And eyes welcomed me.
We drank wine and I talked
And canvas sneakers and
Smiled like the sun as your words
And the dream would end.
Later, when I was by the front door and leaving,
You said your back hurt and I didn’t know what to do
Should I stay? Were you trying to seduce me?
Should I offer you a massage?
Afraid of my own lottery and damning myself as,
I walked out the door.
The day we met is the day my life began.
I have kissed your eyelids
Tasted salt from your neck
Inhaled your breath
Swallowed your spit
Fathered your child
I have laughed till I cried with you
And cried till we absorbed each other’s pain
Yielded to your caress
Surrendered to our passions
Been blessed and cursed.
You have been my wife, my mother, my lover, my best friend,
I still see myself in your eyes,
Because if I am certain of one thing,
In all my human frailty and weakness,
I was born to love you.
And know that after 20 years together
I would still say “I Do!” all over again.
Q.
My husband Steve and I have been married for five and a half years, but our love story began much earlier...
We first met more than twenty years ago, through my work at Haverstraw's Reachout Counseling Center- and at the time, we were both married to other people. That said, we had an instant connection as friends for many reasons- we were in the same field (counseling), with many similar interests and life perspectives. Also, each of us were part of a couple struggling with the issue of infertility- trying hard to have children despite difficulties. We shared medical information, new leads, and leaned on one another's shoulders. In time, I was fortunate to be able to carry my son full term, and he and his wife were able to adopt a daughter from Colombia.
Because our children were the same age (8 weeks apart) and we lived in the same town, the children attended school together, from pre-school and kindergarten on. This put us together on class trips, school dances, parent-teacher conferences, and every other "parent" activity you could imagine. As the primary caregivers for each of our children, we were (and are!) very much involved in every detail of their everyday lives.
During that time, I was separated and divorced from my son's father, and Steve's wife tragically passed away. We were supportive to one another as friends throughout, and each built our lives as single parents while remaining friends. Whatever other feelings each of us had for one another were never acknowledged- not by either of us, and not to anyone.
In time though, although I was dating and moving on with life, I noticed that I began to wince every time I heard a story from one of our mutual friends about Steve's love life. I felt secretly disappointed when I heard about a new girlfriend, and frustrated when I heard that he was "looking for a woman"- but I never said a word! What I had no way of knowing was that he was feeling the same way- dreading to hear who I was dating, and secretly glad whenever he heard that I was unattached.
From time to time, Steve would call me for issues regarding the children, whether it would be for advice, or information about some school event. I am not the best at time management (to say the least!), and returning phone calls promptly was never my specialty- so when Steve called me in March of 2003, I was slow to respond. In fact, he called me several times before finally leaving a message that I couldn't ignore...
He called to ask me out to see a movie!
As luck would have it, I was sitting in my car down at Emeline Park, looking out at the Hudson River when I played that message from him. I thought my heart would stop! I played it over and over- at least three times- and I realized that I was in a panic! I had only one thought-"if I return this call and go to the movies with Steve, it will be all over!" I knew in my heart that this was not just some "date." I finally took a deep breath, and called him back....
And I was right!
We were married a little over a year later, at that very spot by the Hudson River in Haverstraw, with both of the children in the wedding party. Although it was a long and in many ways unexpected journey, it has been "happily ever after" for us ever since.
R.
Will I wait a lonely lifetime, if you want me to I will….
by the Beatles
After college, I started my first job in Manhattan with no idea what the world had in store for me. I was assigned to a senior staff member, who as luck would have it became my husband nine years later. But I’m getting a bit ahead of myself……
As we spent more time together at work, something was happening unbeknownst to me. You see I was extremely naive. Besides, he was my boss, not to mention the fact that he was married with children. We just enjoyed working together and talking and laughing. We made each other happy.
After the Christmas party of that year, we ended up together in his office. But it’s not what you think....We had the most heartfelt discussion of our lives. I told him that I was inexperienced with men, yet I had so much love to give. He told me that he was emotionally divorced from his wife, but he had two beautiful boys who he adored. So there we sat on the floor crying. Kurt professed his love for me and told me that I was beautiful inside and out – a swan in a duck pond. I was blown away, but that didn’t change the fact that he was married.
However, as time went on, true love was too much for us and I made love for the first time with the man of my dreams. Kurt promised that if nothing else, he would keep me company until I found someone that I could spend my life with. The true definition of love is being able to let someone go.
I tried to date, but nobody ever measured up. And each date broke his heart, although he tried not to show it. You see, we were meant to be together. We are opposites that complement each other, yin and yang. Two pieces that fit together so perfectly to make a whole that is superior to each individual part.
He is my best friend. There is nothing that we can’t talk about to this day. Love like this doesn’t come along but once in a lifetime.
There was never any doubt that Kurt loved me, it was his concern for his children that kept him in such a difficult position. But this was bigger than both of us and Kurt eventually did get divorced. We have been happily married for over 23 years. The boys are grown and we have two beautiful grandchildren with another on the way.
I still pinch myself sometimes at my great fortune to have met a man like Kurt. How did I get so lucky? It was a long, hard road, but we often talk about the fact we wouldn’t change a thing. One different turn in the past could change everything in the future. It was all worth it.
Next year Kurt will be singing another Beatle’s song:
Will you still need me, will you still feed me, when I’m sixty-four?
Of course, my love...
S.
Fall 2004 Marcus & I were co-workers for Kevin Lynch in Stony Point. We were friends, co-workers. We had dinner a couple of times, a couple of dates. In October 2004, I found a lump and found out in November 2004, I had breast cancer. Marcos has been by my side every day since, MD appointments, down to Sloan-Kettering Hospital, surgery twice November & December 2004 at Good Sam Hospital. We appreciate all the simple things in life, a laugh, a home, dinner, a sunrise, sunset, a very special night at “UNION” for CA of Breast Awareness. Oh, what a fun night I wore my breast cancer survivor t-shirt. John the bartender remembered. At Thanksgiving, I was diagnosis with macular degeneration of my left eye. Again Marcos has been by my side. He makes me laugh and reminds me to appreciate “LIFE” through the difficult days. 2010 is special for us as we plan to tie the know. We have been together 5 ½ years!! Valentine’s Day at UNION was special. Everything was great-food & service. We did miss, Davey our favorite waiter.