One Glance - A Forever Memory

     Glancing at one another from across our high school cafeteria, we connected for one brief moment.  There He stood by the entrance to our school gymnasium wearing a gold and royal blue letter jacket, laughing with some friends.  "What a nice smile," I thought to myself, "And sparkly eyes, too".  Fleeting though this look was, I remember this moment like it was yesterday.  And the funny thing is that Rick remembers this glance, too.

      Our brief encounter was just that.  It was a cold and wintry February Friday Basketball Night.  Because I was talking with a handsome Someone Else, I turned away and forgot about Rick.  We wouldn't see one another for another ten years and probably didn't think about one another either.  We were both busy trying to position ourselves as successful young adults in the post-education era.  Both of us lived chaotic lives.  We were living life with reckless abandon -- and I do mean reckless!

       During these years I  dated several young men.  For one reason or another, none of these relationships lasted.   When I was 28 years old I finished college and began working as a nurse.  My plan was to stay in Kansas City for one year, then join the Navy.  Yes, I had always wanted to see the world and was willing to see the world on a Naval Destroyer if necessary!

     Then one night I ran into Rick while out with friends.   We met in a dance bar in the Westport area of Kansas City and had our first date about a week later.  We just seemed to 'click' and dated steadily from then on.  One year from that fateful dance at "Guitars & Cadillacs" we were married ~~ June 6, 1987, (D-Day!)  We will have been married 25 years in June.

     The point I am trying to make is this:  One never knows when a chance encounter will turn into something more meaningful in the future.  At the time of our 'glance' in high school, Rick and I would never have guessed that we would marry ten years later.  And, neither of us were looking to be married at the time of our second encounter.   God knew better, though.  He gave us just one glance -- just one glance to remember for a lifetime.   1986 was the perfect time for the two of us to meet and, the next year, marry.  Our rebellious youth would be replaced with a quieter, more settled life.  We would tackle the next 25 years together -- as God intended us to do. 

I love you, Rick.  Happy Valentine's Day!