Who believes in love at fist sight? I didn’t think I did!
Six years divorced, headed to a new career, nursing school! Wow…well yeah lots of older people go back to school. It wouldn’t be easy with two young girls, but their dad was a help (and hero) I could not have imagined.
I met one of my best friends in nursing school, Pam. We traveled together on a short cruise to Mexico and to London, went country dancing together, and leaned on each other during breakups, and of course studied together! I played tennis at least every weekend and more if time allowed, and met many great people and friends at Pardon Our Racquet In Dallas.
Returning home from London in early July 1982, I planned on attending my 20 year high school reunion. It had been a few lonely years of schooling and I felt the need to share my life again, but wow, it had been lean! Pam and I still visited and occasionally went out, but I was working at Medical City and she was working at Parkland and our shifts were erratic. But the reunion was ahead and I was excited about it.
Friday night, Greelea Hotel cocktail party before the Saturday night dinner, a meet and greet..not very near Richardson Texas, but I was dressed and ready to go. I found many friends I had not seen in many years and a few with whom I had remained in contact. It was a fun night of remembering, visiting, peeking at name tags to see the names of those you didn’t immediately recognize! Soon I picked up on a handsome man in khakis, baby blue shirt, and navy blazer, sandy colored hair in a great short mullet.. I had to clue who it could be but I wanted to find out. I’m not sure who approached who first because my friends told me he was watching me. Ah yes, back to high school days. Anyway, I looked at his name tag and almost fainted…Mike Wolverton…really…no way! Here was a Robert Redford look a like…well kinda! In school he was rail thin, broken front tooth (not too badly) and very quiet. I had known him, but not much more than to say hello in passing. We talked the entire night, sometimes taking a break to “circulate.” He gave me his card to “Balloons and Chutes, yep a lighter than air pilot and a skydiver…also a single engine VFR private pilot of fixed wing aircraft. It was an overwhelming night of head rushes, excitement, smiles, more talk…then it was time to go. He said he hoped to see me Saturday night…and I said I would be back.
I almost didn’t go back Saturday night…no clue why. But my friends Lana and Steve called me and told me to get there. I came up with some lame excuse because I didn’t want to drive back there. But they said Mike was looking for me, and so I went back. Another great evening of talk, dinner and dancing. Nope, Mike doesn’t dance, but I did my share with other friends. At the end of this evening he asked me to go out on Tuesday. What do you think I said?
For the past several years I had a fantasy of finding my knight who would carry me off of a white horse…
You will have to wait for part deux…
Love, joy and friends 