A Leave of Absence

I am taking on Emmy's new writing challenge...How did they meet. My story is kind of one in a million. I tell young single girls this is not how I recommend meeting a man. It could work out, but then...it might not. So our story started like this....

There was a story, of a lovely lady....wait that was another story. Come to think of it, you never knew how they met, you just new that they did. Oh well. Here is our story...

It was end of Spring semester at the community college. I can only remember two of the courses I was taking. An English class with emphasis on critical thinking, and a biology class. I was also working about 20-25 hours a week at Michael's, which meant I had stretched myself pretty thin. I was finally awarded with a day off. It was Memorial weekend and I got Sunday off. Did I choose to worship this day? Why yes. I chose to worship the sun. My friend and I went to the beach. My mom must have been home that day because it would have been her car I drove. Funny how that part escapes me. My friend and I had fun and headed for home in the afternoon. I had promised her that we would go to the new country bar, Denim and Diamonds. I wanted to learn line dancing. The best thing about it, no need for a partner. I really didn't want to go, but I did promise....

Rich was in his 6th year of the Coast Guard. He was stationed on The Chase as a second class "radioman." Being in the Coast Guard meant he had overnight duty every --I believe--3 or 4 days. His schedule was weird and that was a long time ago. He had Sunday off as well. His first day off after a string of watches. He was wanting to go home and sleep. However, that was not going to be on his agenda either. He had made a promise to his room mate that they would go and check out that new country bar.

I dreaded going. I was wiped out. And much to my chagrin, I noticed as I showered, that I had managed to bake myself at the beach. I chose a demin mini skirt, long sleeve shirt with fringe--all the rage, and three inch high heel boots. Yup, three inches. For any of you who don't know, I stand at six feet tall. So me with heels is a little redundant. A promise is a promise...and I delivered.

I sat at my chosen bar stool and watched the people dancing. I noticed a guy sitting at the bar across from my friend and I. I quickly and correctly assessed that he would be too short for me. My friend saw him almost exactly at the same time as I did. "You should dance with him."she urged. "He's too short." She danced with him. I was right. Too short. He was barely her height and she is 5'8". I had a few guys ask me to dance. I politely refused. I just wasn't into dancing with men I didn't know. Dancing to me, is too intimate for strangers. I was content to sit and watch. I loved the music. Garth Brooks changed the sound and look of country.

After a while guy # whatever asked me dance. Again I gave my polite no thank you. My friend was getting more frustrated with me. Why? I wasn't into finding a man. In fact, I was a woman scorned and I hated them anyway. She wasn't going to have it. "I am not letting you leave this bar without dancing with at least one guy." She went on, "Dance with him. He looks nice!!" Meanwhile, this guy is standing there looking annoyingly amused by our back and forth of "yes" and "no." Finally I cave. I decided once I pulled myself up to my full and enhanced height Mr. Happy would realize he chose an Amazon, dance with me and leave me alone. I reached my full height and realized I was still shorter than him! Dang! Begrudgingly, yes begrudgingly I danced with him. I realized quickly, his own height was furnished with his cowboy boots and his hat. What is it about a man in a cowboy hat anyway??? After the song ended, we went our separate ways. Fine with me. I danced. Poof be gone. Yep, I was that cold.

A few songs later, Mr. Happy Cowboy Man was back. He wanted another dance. I decided it wasn't so awful, so I obliged. His name was Rich and I learned he was in the Coast Guard. The what? We went our separate ways. Next time, I actually smiled when I saw him come my way. So we danced again. And this time, I watched where he went. The next time we danced, we didn't go our separate ways. We stayed together. It was then that I learned that his friend was with him, the very same person I thought was too short for me and had been dancing with my friend. No, they didn't end up married, but stayed friends. The four of us hung out and closed the place down. Then we moved on to Carrows. Hey it's open 24/7.

Eventually I had to be the party pooper. I was using my mother's car and she needed it for work...in just a couple of hours. I returned home with Rich's number and a kiss good night(I'm such a bad girl!) around....4AM. My mom was scheduled to get up just 30 minutes later. Hey I brought the car back. Not an ounce of alcohol in my system. Never been something of interest to me. Just had a good time. I think I slept most of the next day, and called Rich that afternoon. he promptly asked me out for the next night. I accepted. We have been together ever since. We are a lot of alike in many ways, and we can be worlds apart in others. That is good tho. It keeps it interesting. Was it love at first sight? He would tell you it was for him. I would tell you that I needed time to trust. He treated me good. Still does.

I was inactive from church at the time. He was non practicing Catholic. I believe we were brought together to bring us both back to church. He had questions, and I couldn't answer them--it had been too long. I got to learn all over again. Two years after we met, he was baptized. We had been married less than a year at that point. Two years on the exact same date of our original wedding day, we were sealed in the San Diego Temple. We just celebrated #16 this year.