A Chance Meeting with Destiny

Photo by Constellate on Unsplash

How I Met My Wife

In the early seventies, when I was roughly eight years old, my mom, my brother, and I would board a bus often, to travel to a larger town to do some shopping and afterward we would go to this tire shop that my dad worked at. There were a line of TVs lined up along the wall and there was always one of the TVs turned on that customers could watch while sitting on the couches and love seats as they waited for their vehicles. I remember the ashtrays in the shape of tires and the throw rug under a wooden coffee table that was placed in the middle. I was there so much, that it felt like a second home. I knew the secretary and the manager by their first names.

There were other mechanics that worked there and one in particular had a daughter that also visited quite often. We didn't know each other and we didn't even like each other. One day, we happened to be there on the same weekday and she was watching her favorite soap opera. I suddenly realized it was time to watch my favorite show, Star Trek. I walked over to the TV and flip the channel. This girl did not appreciate me changing the channel and thought that I was rude. I heard her complain but I ignored her because there was just no way that she could ever understand that I never missed an episode and no one was going to stop me on this day. (Later in life, I did convert her into a Trekkie). To pay me back, every time I tried to get a drink of water, she would stand at the water fountain, slowly drinking, turns and looks at me then defiantly turns back around and started drinking again. She would not move. When I tried to go to the bathroom, once again the punishment continue. She would rush by me and lock herself inside for several minutes while I am outside the door doing the pee-pee dance.

When I was around thirteen, we had another chance encounter. She had just moved back from California and she had became friends with some girls that attended my church. They invited her to church  and I don't think that she even noticed me because she never spoke to me even though I was good friends with her friends. (Also, I was the bass player for the church and played piano on occasions. She should have noticed me a little. Right?).

When I was fourteen, there was yet another encounter. I was a regular at the local skating rink, but I usually went on Saturday afternoons (because it only cost fifty cents and the evenings cost a dollar) whereas she a regular went on Friday evenings. I had decided to break from my regular routine and go on a Saturday night and it just so happened that she also decided on that day to go skating for a second night that week. Once again, I failed to impress and I don't think either one of us felt comfortable even though we with our group of friends. The odd thing was that we both had the same group of friends, but we never knew it. We never knew each other's name or anything about one another. Now I probably should explain something. Although we lived in the same town, we didn't go to the same school. I went to a private school in the city and I only saw my friends on weekends at the skating rink and at church functions.

When I was fifteen, I was the janitor for the church, and I always worked on Saturday, cleaning the church and getting it ready for services on Sunday. The girls stopped by for some reason or another, with a beautiful, curly haired brunette in tow, but once again she didn't notice me or talk to me.

When I was sixteen, my dad had started a new job. He was recruited by the same manager that he had worked for before, only a different company. On memorial day, there was a company picnic that included food and games, such as tug-of-war and frisbee football. I had brought my girlfriend with me, and after eating my fill of BBQ and playing games, she introduced me to one of her friends, a beautiful, curly haired brunette (Finally, I found out her name, but had forgotten that we had ever met). Like all other teens, we started hanging out together, ignoring the adults that were at the picnic and later piled into my car and to take my girlfriend home. Now your probably thinking that I cheated, but nothing happened between us, because as far as we were concerned, this was the first time we had ever met (it wasn't until after we had been married for awhile that we found out that we had a lot of near misses), and the car was packed full of other people. When we got back to the park, it was time for everyone to go home and we said goodbye not knowing that in a couple of months our lives would change.

A month goes by and my girlfriend breaks up with me, again. This was like the second time and like a fool I just kept going back, but that was about to change.

Another month goes by and it's July (that's two months since the picnic if anyone is keeping track). I still had the job as a janitor, and the church that I worked for wanted some property cleared that was overran with trees and shrubbery (They didn't buy any power tools but instead I had an ax, a shovel, some hedge trimmers, and a pickax, to do this seemingly impossible task).  I was at home on lunch break when my cousin showed with news that this girl wanted to talk to me (the same curly brown haired girl). I hopped in his car and he then took me to her house, but she wasn't home. I assumed he was pulling a fast one on me, so I went back to work without giving it much thought. I had no longer started removing the roots of a hedge that I had previously cut down, when she showed up with her friend that happened to be dating my cousin.

Her friend asked if we would go out on a double date with her and my cousin and of course I said yes. At first the curly haired girl didn't say much, she just let her friend do most of the talking, but, after a little bit, she invited me to her house for dinner. (I still remember what she was wearing. A white polo shirt with the words "run, jog, run" and a pair of tight green painter pants.) I guess dinner went well because I was invited again. The next night, I unexpectedly had to work late. When I called to apologize, she invited me over for dinner, despite it being 9 PM. The next night I took her to meet my grandparents. After just two nights, I knew that she was the one and I wanted her to meet my family. As soon as she met my grandpa, he blurted out, "she's pretty. . .your need to marry this one."

Friday, (date night), came and I got a phone call from her saying that my cousin and his girlfriend had backed out of the double date and wanted to know if I was still willing to go on a date with her (of course I was). I took her out on a typical date for my town, McDonald's and a movie. To be honest, I didn't want the night to end, and after the movie, instead of heading straight home like I was suppose to, I took her out for ice cream and then to the lake to feed the ducks. (This was the first time that I had ever broken curfew. My dad was a full time fireman and was friends with all the policemen, but I didn't think or care that he would call a manhunt on me.) We were having such a splendid time trying to feed ice cream to the geese (I don't think they cared for it much) that at first I didn't notice my parents van drive by. Sudden fear filled me when I saw my mom in the distance. Quickly, we got in the car and sped off with my mom close behind. I quickly dropped my date off and sped off again, (I don't know what I was thinking. I was caught breaking curfew, but I was panicked and I wasn't thinking straight.) I made it home thinking that I could deny everything, but my dad was waiting in the doorway for me, and my mom was pulling up behind me (I was the only kid in the entire region that had a car like mine so I couldn't deny it if I wanted to). Of course I was grounded and had my keys taken away (but they were given back on Monday because I had to go to work).

Because I was grounded, my girlfriends father felt that he should ground her too. (This was the first time that she had ever been grounded). For one week I wasn't allowed to go anywhere except for work and home. I wasn't even allowed to go over to my grandparents. For one week we were not allowed to see each other, but no one said I couldn't call her. So every night from the time I got off work till the time I went to sleep, I was on the phone, talking on the phone with the love of my life. I even got in trouble because my dad couldn't call home because I was ignoring the beeps.

Friday rolled around again, and I had just spent the longest week of my life under house arrest. I was happy as a lark, because I was finally able to see her again, and we went out to dinner and a movie, but this time I didn't break curfew, and took her home immediately after the movie was over. This pattern repeated over and over again, week after week.

We were always together, inseparable (and we're still always together). We went to carnivals, town festivals and even on a family camping trip. At one of the carnivals, my mom didn't want us to get a picture taken together (it was a new technology. They would print out your picture with a dot matrix printer). My mom said that she didn't know if we would be together and didn't want me or her ripping up a photo, so we got separate photos and exchanged them. After dating for a year and a half we got married.

Over 35 years have passed since that first date night and we have stayed together through the good times and the bad. Through the struggles and through the easy times. We are together 24/7 and I know I sometimes drive her crazy but we are best friends and we're still two crazy kids in love with each other, just in older bodies.