I met the woman of my dreams early in 1966. I married her late in 1966. Sounds real simple, huh? Yeah, that sounds real simple. We met and married in 1966. But just let me tell you about the ups and downs in between. There was nothing simple about it. I worked hard at it. I like to think I earned it. But, truth be told, I probably didn't deserve it.
So many firsts, for me, occurred during that year. Lots of ups and downs, lots of negatives thrown in. But that union, on December 26, 1966, has proven over the course of my life, to be the single most positive event of my life. I started my first real job at 21. I was a teacher. I sponsored my first senior class in 1966. I directed the senior play in 1966. I took that class, 20 or so backwoods mountain kids on their senior trip that year, me and some woman from the community I didn't know, many for their first real trip out of the hills, to the bright lights of Little Rock and Hot Springs. Some of them were older than me.
Barbara invited me down to her house for the weekend once,early in 1966, when the rest of the family were gone. Sounds like the makings of a very good story, huh? I thought so too. Little did I know.
I spent my one and only night in a very active house of ill repute, yet emerged untouched and a virgin, in mid 1966.
I left a body part, crushed and bloody, on the sand dunes of western Oklahoma, in 1966. A very important body part. I bought Barb's engagement and wedding ring from the proceeds of that loss.
I saw houses that had millions of cockroaches that year. I stayed in hotels that cost $1.81 per night that year.
Are you sure you are up to reading this story? Hey, this is a tell all story. I cut no corners here.
Time to get down to the nuts and bolts of this story. It was an early January night. I was finishing up my student teaching in Dumas, I was at the Delta Dip, home of the Ding Dong Daddy (I didn't make that stuff up, its just what they say down there in the delta). I had just got my order, and was walking back to my car. I saw a kid I knew form Arkansas A&M, leaning on the door of a car, and he called me over. He was talking into the car. I looked inside. First, I saw a fairly pretty girl. Back seat, my side, another one. Then, my eyes moved to the far back. And there she was. I almost dropped my burger. There, before my eyes, sat the most beautiful one-eyed girl I have ever seen! (Actually, her hair style only showed one, but a few days later, I saw the other one, and it was just as big and beautiful as the other!)
My first sensible thought was, “This is the one. I want to marry this girl!” I had this problem. In high school, I never dated much. Not totally my idea, but it just never really happened. I was totally insecure and silent around any girl I liked. I had many romantic entanglements, but only I knew. They were in my head. So, I headed out to college, determined to start a new dating life (Actually, A DATING LIFE) with a clean slate. Well, I did get to where I could carry on a sensible conversation with a girl, and dated quite a bit, as long as I didn't really like her. If I did, I just froze up. If I REALLY wanted to date a girl, and after finally getting up the nerve, I would call her up and say something really good like, “Hey, you wouldn't want to go out with me, would you?” and then, if she hesitated, even for a moment, I would throw in the clincher. “That's OK. I don't blame you. I wouldn't either if I were you. Bye.”
Well, you can just see the prospects here, with this girl I wanted to MARRY! Well, this girl was just so bubbly, so outgoing and friendly, she would just not allow me to freeze up. She brought out the real me. Before long, I was invited to sit in the car. Turns out, thankfully for my upcoming teaching career, this girl was a senior in a nearby town, Watson, twenty miles deeper into the delta.
Before long, Tommy Neeley, a big handsome jock from A&M, walked up. A real chick magnet. I knew Tommy well. I used to rub his legs on a regular basis.(Well, maybe I should explain that. He was a star on the track team, I was the team manager.) Anyway, Tommy started talking to all the girls about going with him to a big, wild party he knew about. Well, my heart sank. They wouldn't turn down a big jock like Tommy, and even if I was invited, I didn't care much for parties and such. I couldn't/wouldn't dance much, except for the Twist. And I sometimes got all tangled up doing/trying that. But, would you believe it, this girl said no! She didn't like parties! I immediately fell deeper in love, and before the night was over, we had a date set up for Saturday night. Things were looking up!
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