I turned 19 on June 8, 1995. I had my life set out. I had finished my first year of college and was headed home to my parent’s house to work for the summer and save up some money. I took a full time job waitressing in the small hotel that was near our house and planned to work as many hours as possible. I had zero intention of meeting anyone, I knew I was moving 2 hours away at the end of summer.
A month into summer holidays, a family friend approached me about taking over her secretarial position for 2 weeks so she could go on vacation. I jumped at the chance and quickly gave my notice at the hotel. Answering phones and typing seemed much more pleasant to me than serving breakfast at 6 a.m. I soon started work at the nearby oil and gas plant doing whatever secretarial stuff she had left for me. I was the only female in a completely male dominated office. Luckily it was a small town and I knew most of the guys who worked there. I remember being excited on my last day there…finally back to school for me. I had about 4 days and then I was moving to get started back on my college courses.
And that was the day I met Richard. He worked as an operator at the plant. Now if we want to discuss how some things are meant to be….here is one. Richard had 2 weeks of holidays but because he had used one day earlier, he only had 1 week and 6 days…which ended him right back to work on the last day of my work. I knew exactly who he was when I saw him…I had gone to school with two of his brothers. Luckily I knew how to turn on the magic cause by the end of the day, I had a plan for a small group of us to go out that night. The nice thing for him was that I already knew all about him…news travels fast in small towns! I was drawn to him instantly and truthfully was not thinking at all into the future. Can you imagine at 19 thinking about getting together with a 24 year old on his way to divorce with 2 babies at home? I guess maybe my age was a good thing…I was naive enough not to worry about stepping into the world of parenting.
To Be Continued…..
I told my sister today that I would rather be sitting on a beach with a suit full of sand than sitting inside watching the snow fall around me. Come on summer!!
