RJD Day 1 Prompt - Love is in the Air

Linking up with Dawn and other bloggers for "21 Days of Journaling in January"!


Check it out here and join the fun!


The prompt for Day 1 - Love is in the Air - gives several options for sharing our "love story"...

and as usual - I am beginning a bit late!  So, I will share Day 1 now and come back to the computer a bit later for Day 2!

As I sat down last night while "not-really-watching-TV" with my husband and drafted out my "love story" it became clear...

it was way too much information; and some of the story was better left unwritten!

This morning I decided to share three parts of my "love story":

• The First Love
• The High School Sweetheart
• The Lasting Love

The First Love

Found on Pinterest

There may have been others, but the first one I remember clearly was Bill - I even remember his last name; but will keep that information to myself!

I was living in Germany with my parents and two brothers...it was the Seventh Grade.  Bill and I would sit together each time we had a school-wide assembly...at the top of the bleachers, holding hands, and being "in love"!  (Ha!  Little did we know...).

We lived in the same military housing complex and rode the school bus together each morning and afternoon - where we would sit in the back of the bus and hold hands.

Then...

My dad received his orders to return to the U. S. just after Christmas - in fact, I think we left in January because I know my grand parents waited to celebrate Christmas with us!

When I told Bill that I would be leaving after Christmas...

we broke up!!

I am not sure whose idea it was; but it was the best thing to do!  We were only "kids" afterall!  And we would be separated by many miles and an expansive ocean.

But...the very next day, he was sitting at the top of the bleachers with his new girl friend!!

So much for The First Love!

The High School Sweetheart

Then...there was Andy!!  My real first love!!

We met at a mutual friend's Sweet Sixteen birthday party...our eyes locked across the dance floor as I walked in the door - and for us, there was nobody else!  We spent the rest of the evening together...

and together we stayed for a couple of years during high school!  We dated - movies, putt-putt, sodas at the local hang-out.  We went to the county fair and kissed at the top of the ferris wheel; we met at lunch period and sat on the low brick wall outside the school - talking and sharing "nuttie buddies" (the chocolate candies being sold by the pep team or the ball team or some group or other at school).

But, I did not want to "go steady"; I wanted to be "free" to date other guys...

I was still trying to figure out just what my "knight in shining armor" was like - 

So, eventually we each started dating others.  I would only date one guy at a time; but dated several during high school, looking for that one special guy!

Andy and I remained friends all through high school and beyond...in fact, when I went "home" for our 40th High School Reunion, he and his wife invited me to stay in the home of his in-laws which is located right next door to their house!

I didn't marry The High School Sweetheart...

But, as time went on and I dated more and more guys, I figured out what I wanted was to marry and start a family.  I was ready for the next step...

Marriage and Family!

As more time went on, I did get married; I did have that family - two children, a boy and a girl; but that marriage was not to be a "lasting love"...

That first family split up and I was a single mom, still looking for that love...

And, then I met Bobby...

The Lasting Love

As a single mom, I wasn't really looking for "true love" anymore.  I just wanted to go out with my friends when I could, and have a good time...

and, when I saw him - with the band, playing his harmonica - totally opposite of my first husband (he was blond hair blue eyes and older than me!)...

I just had to ask him to dance with me when the band took a break!

And we did!

That started our "dating" - movies; the clubs where he played with the band; parks and grocery shopping with my two children in tow...

Yes, it was a ready-made family; and we did family things!

Well, life goes on - and we added to our family - and now, almost 32 years later...

We are still together.  Yes, there have been ups and downs; there have been times I thought I would give up another marriage and leave with the children.  There were times I didn't think I could go on another day...

But, with other issues that we were dealing with - his health, for one - I just didn't think it was the right thing to do...

So, we are still together, "for better or for worse, in sickness or in health, 'til death..."

And, perhaps that is my love story; my lasting love.

Thanks for taking the journey with me -