I have been married to my wonderful husband for six years. I have known him since November of 1975. I was 15 and he was 16. We were juniors in high school and sort of "ran" with the same crowd.
I remember our first date like it was yesterday. We went to a car show in downtown Tucson. He picked me up in his old jeep, it was an orange soft top. He was so polite, opened the door for me. I remember his blue eyes and very blond hair. And it was the 70's, he had some very cool sideburns. I also remember how he smelled, so fresh and clean. No overpowering cologne or anything, just like spring.
Funny, but I don't remember our second date. It just seems after the first one we were together. A couple. All our friends at school thought we would be a "forever" couple. Our love was young, innocent, pure and sweet. We broke up one time for about a weekend. (I think I was the culprit, I wanted to ride on the back of another boys motorcycle.)
Then life happened. My family moved away. We grew apart. We took different paths. Mine went from Arizona, to Florida, to Arkansas (yes Arkansas!) to Texas, to Washington, then to Montana. He stayed in Tucson for a while then his path took him to Phoenix. We lived different lives, with different players.
I thought about him from time to time. I missed the sweetness and innocence of our teenage love.
Then life happened. And 28 years later we were talking in a hotel lobby about where we had been and what we had done. I think of that time as our "second" first date. I remember it like it was yesterday. I remember his blue eyes and, well, his dark, graying hair. (Don't know where the blond went?) He was so polite, sat near me, but not too close, with his arm casually draped up on the couch behind me. I remember how he smelled, no overpowering cologne, just fresh and clean. We talked for hours.
Life takes us down many different roads. We choose certain paths... travel down them... sometimes take a back road that gets us no where. But sometimes we take a path that leads us to the most wonderful place imaginable. That is the path I am on now... My high school sweetheart and me.
