Solitarily Anniversarial

33 Years Ago Today

Today’s a day for reflection since 33 years ago a sprightly young lady with incredibly flashing brown eyes was escorted down the aisle by an uncertain father to become my wife and nothing was blessedly ever the same. We’re a couple thousand miles apart for this anniversary, nothing new considering a far flung military career and her allergy to cold weather. We exchanged cards this morning over FaceTime and a very cold morning suddenly felt a lot warmer.

The Uncertain Father of the Bride

I’ve told the story before that I was a hard partying second lieutenant cutting a fairly wide swath through the female population of Panama in late 1981 when I ran into my future wife for the first time one Friday night. A friend had dragged her to the Albrook Air Force Base Officers’ Club despite her stated aversion for gringos. I finally got her to dance with me and her eyes seemed to glow, illuminating a fairly dark dance floor. I spoke only broken Spanish and she not a single word of English but we both realized, all of a sudden, something was very different.

With My Groomsmen

She was a very proper girl and wouldn’t let me drive her home (could have been all the beer she saw me consume) but she did accept an invitation to our weekly Bachelor Officers Quarter Saturday bash. I can remember bouncing around my quarters that Saturday trying to will the clock to move faster so I could see her again. One of the indelible memories of my life is when she opened the door as I arrived to pick her up, again with those hypnotic eyes. We spent the entire evening barely a hand width apart as the usual Saturday bacchanalia swirled around us.

I couldn’t get enough of this lady so I asked her out for the next night to dinner at the Fort Amador Officers’ Club – something I’d never done with a fairly extensive list of Panamanian ladies I had dated before. We just couldn’t seem to get close enough to each other. I parked my car on the banks of the Panama Canal and after dinner as we sat in the car with the moonlit canal flowing by, out of the blue I asked her to marry me. To my immense delight she said yes although I think we were both a little stunned at both the question and the response. I can only say it felt right and the past thirty three years have more than redeemed the wisdom of that snap decision.

Of Course the PanaGals Were There

My Wife's Brother and Sister

The next few months were spent convincing her family and mine that we were not completely crazy. Her somewhat reticent father told me I had to learn Spanish before the wedding but her mother was the toughest nut to crack. Somehow I convinced them both their daughter was in semi-safe hands and we were married four months later.

We’re about to embark on a new phase of our life together as I approach the end of my useful work career and I find myself really looking forward to passing those remaining years with this lady capable of such energy and love. 

Frigid Front Yard Today

Back Yard