Never Say Good-bye....Part II

Well I have been getting requests for the rest of the story, so here goes.

Dave and I dated long distance from April of 1987. After my high school graduation in June, we exchanged senior class rings and in December he gave me a promise ring.

I didn’t go to college right away because of financial issues, but in January of 1988, I headed for East Texas State University in Commerce, Texas.

We continued to write and call and we visited each other as often as we could, but the year of long distance was putting a strain on our relationship.

I had lived in a small town for so long, and here I was suddenly in a big town with lots of guys who didn’t remember me when I was gawky and ugly. I had blossomed into a self confident and attractive young woman. I was experiencing something that I had never had before, I was popular and guys wanted to date me.

I was stupid and selfish. Right after I went down to Austin to go to Dave’s Senior Prom with him, just over a year after we started going steady, I broke up with him to date other people.

Sometimes I wish I had never done that, if for no other reason than I know that I hurt him deeply. I wish I could take that back with every fiber of my being. On the other hand, that separation was good for both of us. I got a good look at what was out there and that makes me appreciate how lucky I am to have such an amazing man. Dave also dated around a little bit and I think we both are better for seeing other people.

So after a long summer apart, we started talking again right before he went to boot camp, just as friends. We wrote a lot of letters while he was in boot camp and started to get close again. He promised to come and visit me while he was home on leave and we were both hinting around at reconciliation.

The timing couldn’t have been worse. Coming straight out of boot camp, he was still very serious and dealing with all the physiological stuff that the Marine Corp throws at them. I was a theater major and president of the ETSU Theater Fraternity. The day that he drove in was the final performance of a long and grueling production. That night we were playing host to 200 theater majors from colleges and universities around the state and I was busy with the cast party details.

In short, we just didn’t click; both of us had too much on our minds that weekend and couldn’t connect emotionally. He left Sunday morning and we promised to keep in touch and to stay friends.

Dave drove back to Austin and the next day his Mom put him on a plane for his first duty station, 29 Palms, California.

He had applied for a month’s assignment at the local recruiter’s office there in Austin, but the word didn’t come through before his flight. When his Mom got back to the house after dropping him off at the airport, there was a message saying he got the assignment.

If he had made it all the way to 29 Palms, they wouldn’t have let him come back for the duty. She knew he only had a 30-minute layover in Phoenix, so she called the airport there and had him paged. Miracle of miracles, running between planes, he heard the message, called her, and she got him on a plane back to Austin.

I truly in my heart believe that if he had made it all the was to 29 Palms, we would have stayed in touch for a few months, but after the disastrous attempt at getting back together, the distance would have eventually torn us apart.

Fate was in our favor and he did make it back to Austin, and a few weeks into his month long assignment, he made another trip to ETSU and the sparks flew. It was like we had never separated and we were high school sweethearts again.

When he left that weekend and asked me to start wearing his promise ring again. He talked about long term commitments and being together forever.

I knew this was the man I was going to marry. I finished that semester, packed up my bags, and moved home to wait for the marriage proposal that I believed was coming any day now.

A month later, I was still at home, waiting.

My parents think the world of Dave, they always have. He wrapped them around his little finger that first day that we started dating. I took him home to meet them and I warned him that my parents were very conservative. After sitting on the couch talking for a little while, Dave turned to my Dad and asked if he could speak to him outside. Walking with my Dad around the front yard, Dave assured him that his intentions were honorable, and he asked my Dad for his permission to take me to my Senior Prom.

From that moment forward, he could do no wrong in their eyes. During that time that we were broken up, I would bring other boys home for Sunday dinner and my Dad always managed to bring up Dave’s name.

"Dad”, I would tell him tersely “I’m not dating Dave anymore".

So there I was, at home, waiting tables, and waiting for Dave to propose.

I didn’t find out the next part of the story until after we had been married for 5 or 6 years. Dave called the house looking for me one day, but I was at work, so my Mom decided to take matters into her own hands.

"So are you ever going to ask Wendy to marry you?"

Stammering on Dave’s part.

"You know that’s why she quit college. So are you ever going to do it?"

Two days later, the phone rang and it was Dave popping the question. It was the end of January 1989. The next time he could take any leave was in April, so we set our wedding date for April 22, 1989.

The last 17 years haven’t always been easy. There were times when we both considered throwing in the towel, but we’re both so stubborn that we just wouldn’t quit. We would keep holding on and eventually work through our problems and end up better for it.

I firmly believe that we are meant to be together. There were so many obstacles that should have kept us apart, but divine intervention stepped in each time and here we are; 17 years and going strong.