In high school, Sandy lived across the street and two doors down. She was the cutest girl on the block. (She’d tell you she was the only girl on the block.) She thought it was cool that I rode a motorcycle, but she was too shy to talk to me. I was too shy to talk to her.
Well, she went off and got married and joined the Army. She flew a Black Hawk in the Gulf War. Didn’t hear from her for years.
Still, she’d visit my dad when she was in town; and I’d visit her dad when I was in town.
When my dad died she wrote me a letter. Her marriage wasn’t going well, and she happened to live in Washington. We chatted on the phone once a month or so. Her mom was ill and had to go into a nursing home. Her dad had cancer, and she felt that her relatives were not giving her accurate information. I’d check in on her dad when I was in town, and let her know how he looked. Eventually she got a divorce, her dad died and her mom died.
The once-a-month (or so) phone calls turned into weekly affairs. We’d talk for two or three hours at a time. I asked her to marry me once, but she thought I was joking. (Me? Joke?) I wrote her a heartfelt letter once, and I think I kind of scared her. Still, the phone calls continued.
I’d been talking, and talking, and talking about moving to Washington. I guess she got tired of waiting. She moved to a remote area of Tennessee to live near a cousin. We’d joked that by the time I moved up here, she’d have moved away.
A few months ago she tricked me into ‘popping the question’. And there you have it!
She’s here now, and will be returning to TN on Saturday. She’ll sell her house in April or so, and move out here.
With all of the crap you’ve been dealing with lately, this is great news! Congratulations to you both and I hope this is the start of a long upswing in your life.
