Rita Cooledge sings a song that usually always makes me cry.
I was so in love with my ex-husband, even after a county court Judge ruled to 'put asunder' what 'God had joined together' anytime he walkes into a room, I am so happy to see him my heart skips a beat, his presence takes my breath away, no different from the very first time I saw him all those years ago,
I will never forget that moment. It plays like a video in my mind as I write this and an involuntary grin takes over my face. I was with my friend Carolyn Scott and her husband Jerry at The Barrell House in Flour Bluff. It was an otherwise hole in the wall, yucky beer joint but we graced a table by the small dance floor in support of Dondi. A local musician that was almost famous.
Jerry would tease me about being single. He was a supervisor over aircraft mechanics, most of them just out of the military and single, at the Corpus Chrisiti Navy Base. He would say 'Stephanie, what do you want? A tall one, short one? Take your pick.'. How silly!
I was kinda worried about being out so late as Carolyn and I were nursing students, when the heavy wooden bright red bar door swung open and a group of guys and girls, probably a few years older than me, seemed to tumble in, apparently fresh from the beach, and funny how fast your whole life can change.
He was tall, dark and handsome. He wore a purple, half tee shirt and Levi jeans that fit just right.
"Here are the Beech Creeps now" Jerry hollered out. (In referance to the name of the aerospace company they all worked for) In a tight bunch the group moved in unison towards our table and I was already praying he would sit by me. Jerry made informal introductions while I tried not to stare at that smooth skinned, brown belly, and not fidget self consciously too much. When the group settled in and couples went to dance as Dondi played 'Looking For Love In All The Wrong Places' on his Gibson Guitar, Juan asked if I would like to dance. We barely moved as he held me and asked a thousand questions. That song lasted forever yet I was not ready to let go of him when it ended. I guess I never really have...completely anyway. I can't. We share children, grandchildren and a whole lifetime full of memories. I am not even sure how long we have been divorced. But I do know we married on March 3, 1985 in his sister's back yard to a turn table playing The Carpenter's vinyl record "We've Only Just Begun" . With, among other guests, his grandmother and my grandmother in attendance. My daughter, now our daughter, Natosha the flower girl. My favorite sister and his next oldest brother, our witnesses , while Shauna, the 2nd of our 3 children, gestated comfortably in my still flat tummy. He had the most romantic sounding name ever and once I finally learned how to spell it I have never tired of hearing him or anyone else say it.
Life is full of change.
My heart has a space where words end but feelings continue. You feel what you feel. It is what it is, on and on and so it goes. kisses
