The night my parents met him was the day he asked me to marry him. I had telephoned them to say that we were coming over right away; I had some exciting news! They had already gone to bed and didn’t bother changing out of their night clothes for our visit. Not that it matter; I lived just five minutes away. I rang the doorbell and we waited on the front porch. My mother opened the door wide. My eyes were wide, too, when I realized that the bright light from the living room lamp behind her cut right through the thin material of her nightgown, leaving nothing to the imagination. I could only imagine what he thought, seeing his future mother-in-law like that for the first time.
I met him thirty-five years ago when I was twenty-three years old. A friend with whom I had gone to school with but hadn’t seen in years had invited me out for drinks one afternoon after work. The date was May 10, 1978. I was a special ed teacher and my friend was a flight attendant. I lived in the city and she lived near the airport. Neither of us were seeing anyone special. In fact, the single life wasn’t so bad. We each had our own apartment and drove nice cars. Life was pretty good.
There is such a thing as love at first sight because I was attracted to him the moment I laid eyes on him. It was the ‘total package’ that I liked, especially his smile. The fact that we sat at the end of the bar and that he was the bartender ensured that he would be front-and-center in my line of vision for the duration of our stay. I hoped it wasn’t too obvious that I was scouting him out.
Welcome to my very own website! I love to write, and because I took a “road less traveled,” many people have encouraged me for many years to write a book. Well, been there, done that….twice, actually (“The Best Tips from Women Aboard” and “From the Galleys of Women Aboard.”) Writing a book is the easy part; selling it is way different.
There was nothing unusual about my upbringing. It was when I was in my twenties that life took on a whole new meaning: my new husband and I sold our house, two vehicles, and nearly every wedding present we received a few months earlier and headed out of St. Louis, Missouri in June 1978 for an adventure. And did we ever have one! We lived aboard a twenty-eight foot sailboat in Key West at a time when Jimmy Buffett sang for free at local bars, bales of marijuana washed up on the shore almost daily, and we were almost enticed by big Cuban bucks to participate in the Mariel boatl-lift that was sanctioned by then-President Jimmy Carter.
Many events that happened during that time and since have been woven into what is My Life. I hope you enjoy what I am about to share with you…