Well when it comes to friends all I can really say is be sure you marry one. I was lucky to have married my friend. Guess soul mate could also be a good name, but friend, that will do. We met when he moved here in the 6th grade. His parents had lived in Baltimore and they bought a house across the field from ours. Hold onto your hat cause I was quite a bit younger than he was, and as I write this "jail bait" comes to mind. But it wasn't like that. I was the little girl next door and he was the young boy that cut our grass. Until.........
Time went by. I bothered the heck out of him while he played basket ball. Always wanted to play, too. He indulged me and we'd play. Don't know why he'd put up with that. His Mom was a real nice lady that enjoyed having a girl around. I'd sit on a stool in the kitchen and watch her cook. When I got older, I'd help. Moma never let us into the kitchen except to wipe dishes so that was a treat. Never paying much attention to him except in passing. Until..........
We moved away in my 6th and 7th grades. Lived in Virginia Beach. Would come home on weekends, but not a whole lot since I got involved with stuff there. When we returned for me to start 8th grade he had graduated high school. I remember buying him a graduation present, English Leather Cologne, that was the thing then. Something for my friend. Until............
He went away to the Apprentice School in Newport News, and was good to see him now and then when he came home. Mostly in passing. I still enjoyed spending time with his Mom. His dad was away months at a time and she was lonely. He and I would talk from time to time and catch up on what was happening in our lives. Until...........
Guess when I turned 16 things changed a little. Mom let me start dating at 16 1/2 why the magic number I don't know. I dated a guy from here that also was in the Apprentice School thus the interesting ties. He was a nice enough person, but not quite for me. I remember him telling me he liked my long hair, the next weekend I'd cut it off. I remember Sunday's riding around the dairy freeze and my friend would show up after his flying lessons, that never took off. There was always a group around and we'd all sit and chat. Until.............
After a while he'd let me help wash his car. When it was finished, we go for a ride. My pay I guess. Soon on Sunday's we'd ride out to get ice cream, innocently enough. After I stopped seeing the other guy, it seemed our friendship got closer. Until...
One Sunday night, my cousin and I were at the movies. My friend and another friend came in and sat by us. Afterwards we went to the Dairy Freeze. On the way we shared our first kiss, innocently enough. Things were different, until.... then.
I remember our first date came when he called home one day and I was at his house. He had called to get my phone number. When he found out I was there he asked to speak to me, and wondered what I was doing that weekend. I told him about a party I was invited to and he said there was one he wanted to invite me to go to, we agreed to go together. Our first date a birthday party at the Mathews Yacht Club.
A few weeks later he was my date for my Junior Prom. What a night. We danced and danced and had a wonderful time. Of course he was teased by his friends for dating the "little girl next door"! We dated for a while, on and off. Dating other people too, but we always seemed to find our way back together. We would talk for hours about everything and nothing. Sunday afternoons were special before he went back to Newport News. "Grooving On A Sunday Afternoon". One of our songs. Summers in the boat skiing and just hanging out we had fun.
Then the Marine Corps, drafted, he was gone. We were dating other people then, it still hurt to see him go. Letters written daily, tapes sent, then the Med Cruise...........eternity. Months away can do something to the soul. Hearing his voice on tapes helped fill the void. My parents were concerned we were getting too close, and we were. The words had changed, love and miss were ever so frequent. Yep it was good to see that face when they got off the ship. Meeting them in Carolina when he arrived back, we knew. After a few months he was out of the service, his life started getting back to normal. We were beginning to know our happiness was with each other.
Soon he asked the most important question of our lives, and I said yes. Questions came from everywhere, are you sure, she's so young, you haven't been home long..............all answered on that December day in 1971, when I became Mrs. Lloyd George Callis...........Skip that is!! On that day I married my friend. We moved to Newport News to be close to his job and school. After three years and too many stoplights we built a home in Mathews and moved in just 14 days before our first child was born!
Yep my special friend became my husband, my partner for life. This year we have been married for 38 years, who knew it would last, we did. We have two beautiful children, Beth and Jay, they are happily married. Beth has two children Ethan and Faith. Our friendship created so much, love, happiness, respect and to this day I am still married..... to my friend, the special one.
No comments:
Post a Comment