The story of us (me and the hubby)
I met D at church when I was 9 and he was 10. His family moved onto a farm just outside of town. The church was small and so everybody knew everybody. There weren't that many kids in church and even at that age we were glad when new boys moved to town. D's brother C was a year and a half older than D so we got two new boys to chase and kick and flirt with. Our families became friends but D and I were not an item until much later.
As a freshman in high school, I dated C. Then I dated D's cousin. He on the other hand had the hots for my two best friends, K and A. We ran around together throughout high school and even into college at NEO. He was my best guy friend. Matter of fact when my best girl friend and I wanted to know what it would be like to get drunk, he got us a bottle of peach or apricot schnapps and took us to a field where no one would see us. Later, he told us we were terrible drunks and that we should never drink again. (Oh should we have listened to him!!!!!) We could talk about almost anything and we did. He joined the army and we kept in touch through letters. There was no email.
In December of 1969, his parents were both severely injured in a car wreck. D was stationed in Brussels, Belgium and came home immediately to help out. I had been living in Tulsa and not doing too well in the dating department. I kept dating guys who were totally wrong for me, and my life was a mess. I decided to move back home that January and go back to finish my degree in education because my financial situation wasn't doing any better than my dating. I had begun to think about D in a more romantic light. He was a truly nice guy. So I got to thinking that if I could love him as much as I did as a friend, what would it hurt to see if I could love him in a more intimate way.
D was of the notion that he wanted to remain single until he was at least 30. At this time I was 21 and he was 22. I began my not so subtle pursuit. There were a couple of nurses that took care of his parents that he dated but that didn't go anywhere, and there was this really cute, well built girl from Miami that he dated and he was hot for her. However, on the 4th of July that year, he had a bad case of poison ivy. He figured that she would want to be at the lake and he wasn't going to go swimming with poison crud all over him. This played to my advantage since my family wound up having a picnic on his family's creek. He came over to visit since he had nothing else to do. Going to Seneca to the carnival and fireworks together that night took the place of nothing to do. He would never date the good looking stacked blonde again. Matter of fact he had one other little fling with some girl who lived in the same apartment complex as his brother, but it was nothing serious. Not being very good at sitting and waiting I also ventured into the dating game. There were 3 guys that I dated but there were no sparks. D had hooked me and he wasn't even fishing!!!!!
I spent that summer helping around the farm. I set irrigation pipe and drove a tractor for haying. D's folks weren't exactly well yet so I made myself available to help out whenever I could. He saw an awful lot of me. On his birthday he was out in the field behind our house plowing. I had gotten him a huge tire truck inner tube for floating in the creek after setting irrigation pipe so I took it out to him. Since his dad was back in the hospital for awhile and his mom wasn't up to doing any celebrating, he asked me if I wanted to go do something a little later that night. Well, DUH!!!! I mean like it had been 3 weeks since the 4th. We had been together doing various and asundry things but hey this was a DATE!!!! He had taken the bait!!!
We continued to date and hang out and get closer but he still wouldn't surrender his heart. I would tell him that I loved him and he would say, "Likewise I'm sure." I really had it bad because I let him get away with that. Then on December 19, 1970, what should have been an insignificant thing happened. I bent over to pick up a pencil. Yep, that's what changed our lives. It would be January 2, 1971 before I regained my memory. I was told plenty of things that happened later but very few things connect from that time. Yes, I missed Christmas.
After several wrong Diagnosis, it was discovered that I have an abnormal cluster of blood vessels growing on my brain and one of them had sprung a leak. Of course, it sealed itself off but a weak blood vessel on the brain is something to be concerned about. There was nothing that could be done since these blood vessels sent blood directly to the brain and could not be by passed. Yes, even to this day, I am a walking time bomb!!!!! The only things that were affected were my eye sight- I had to start wearing my glasses all of the time not just to see at a distance- and my memory of certain past events. Otherwise, I was/am fine and dandy. I'm not supposed to strain my head chest or abdomen or lift heavy objects.
This incident of almost losing me was what got D to realize that life without me wasn't much of an option. He finally started saying he loved me too and only used the likewise thing when he was trying to get a rise out of me. Isn't it ironic that now that I couldn't do things on the farm to help that he fell for me?
He surprised us all on Easter of that year when he introduced me to his uncle as his fiancee. I didn't argue with him. We set the date and changed it but that is a story for another day. We always laugh and say that I chased D until he caught me.
I later found out that in March of 1970, before D and I had really started dating, D and my brother had a discussion about me while they were shooting a game of pool. My Bro asked if D realized I was out to get him. D said he did and then my dear Bro told D that he hoped I won but to go ahead and run as fast and as hard as he could. As the story was told to me, D said something about planning on running.
Take heed all you single people; you can run but you can't hide from the fickle finger of fate. D tried but I was his destiny. And to quote from my favorite movie, "Destiny, destiny, no escaping destiny."
As a freshman in high school, I dated C. Then I dated D's cousin. He on the other hand had the hots for my two best friends, K and A. We ran around together throughout high school and even into college at NEO. He was my best guy friend. Matter of fact when my best girl friend and I wanted to know what it would be like to get drunk, he got us a bottle of peach or apricot schnapps and took us to a field where no one would see us. Later, he told us we were terrible drunks and that we should never drink again. (Oh should we have listened to him!!!!!) We could talk about almost anything and we did. He joined the army and we kept in touch through letters. There was no email.
In December of 1969, his parents were both severely injured in a car wreck. D was stationed in Brussels, Belgium and came home immediately to help out. I had been living in Tulsa and not doing too well in the dating department. I kept dating guys who were totally wrong for me, and my life was a mess. I decided to move back home that January and go back to finish my degree in education because my financial situation wasn't doing any better than my dating. I had begun to think about D in a more romantic light. He was a truly nice guy. So I got to thinking that if I could love him as much as I did as a friend, what would it hurt to see if I could love him in a more intimate way.
D was of the notion that he wanted to remain single until he was at least 30. At this time I was 21 and he was 22. I began my not so subtle pursuit. There were a couple of nurses that took care of his parents that he dated but that didn't go anywhere, and there was this really cute, well built girl from Miami that he dated and he was hot for her. However, on the 4th of July that year, he had a bad case of poison ivy. He figured that she would want to be at the lake and he wasn't going to go swimming with poison crud all over him. This played to my advantage since my family wound up having a picnic on his family's creek. He came over to visit since he had nothing else to do. Going to Seneca to the carnival and fireworks together that night took the place of nothing to do. He would never date the good looking stacked blonde again. Matter of fact he had one other little fling with some girl who lived in the same apartment complex as his brother, but it was nothing serious. Not being very good at sitting and waiting I also ventured into the dating game. There were 3 guys that I dated but there were no sparks. D had hooked me and he wasn't even fishing!!!!!
I spent that summer helping around the farm. I set irrigation pipe and drove a tractor for haying. D's folks weren't exactly well yet so I made myself available to help out whenever I could. He saw an awful lot of me. On his birthday he was out in the field behind our house plowing. I had gotten him a huge tire truck inner tube for floating in the creek after setting irrigation pipe so I took it out to him. Since his dad was back in the hospital for awhile and his mom wasn't up to doing any celebrating, he asked me if I wanted to go do something a little later that night. Well, DUH!!!! I mean like it had been 3 weeks since the 4th. We had been together doing various and asundry things but hey this was a DATE!!!! He had taken the bait!!!
We continued to date and hang out and get closer but he still wouldn't surrender his heart. I would tell him that I loved him and he would say, "Likewise I'm sure." I really had it bad because I let him get away with that. Then on December 19, 1970, what should have been an insignificant thing happened. I bent over to pick up a pencil. Yep, that's what changed our lives. It would be January 2, 1971 before I regained my memory. I was told plenty of things that happened later but very few things connect from that time. Yes, I missed Christmas.
After several wrong Diagnosis, it was discovered that I have an abnormal cluster of blood vessels growing on my brain and one of them had sprung a leak. Of course, it sealed itself off but a weak blood vessel on the brain is something to be concerned about. There was nothing that could be done since these blood vessels sent blood directly to the brain and could not be by passed. Yes, even to this day, I am a walking time bomb!!!!! The only things that were affected were my eye sight- I had to start wearing my glasses all of the time not just to see at a distance- and my memory of certain past events. Otherwise, I was/am fine and dandy. I'm not supposed to strain my head chest or abdomen or lift heavy objects.
This incident of almost losing me was what got D to realize that life without me wasn't much of an option. He finally started saying he loved me too and only used the likewise thing when he was trying to get a rise out of me. Isn't it ironic that now that I couldn't do things on the farm to help that he fell for me?
He surprised us all on Easter of that year when he introduced me to his uncle as his fiancee. I didn't argue with him. We set the date and changed it but that is a story for another day. We always laugh and say that I chased D until he caught me.
I later found out that in March of 1970, before D and I had really started dating, D and my brother had a discussion about me while they were shooting a game of pool. My Bro asked if D realized I was out to get him. D said he did and then my dear Bro told D that he hoped I won but to go ahead and run as fast and as hard as he could. As the story was told to me, D said something about planning on running.
Take heed all you single people; you can run but you can't hide from the fickle finger of fate. D tried but I was his destiny. And to quote from my favorite movie, "Destiny, destiny, no escaping destiny."
posted by Mrs. E at 4:04 PM
1 Comments:
All these years of knowing you and I had no clue that you are a TICKING TIME BOMB!!!
What a wonderful story! Thank you for sharing. I love hearing the background things about people I know. I like to think that it's my inquisitive nature and the mark of a true writer, but nah, I'm just nosey.
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