Kakahead

Our acquaintance first began when we were both just 17 years old.  Sociology class in high school.  I remember that she said she was from a big town, Detroit.  I was from Long Island and our family had relatives in Brooklyn.  Two “city kids” (ok, “suburb kids”) transplanted at different times together to Rhinelander, a dinky town in northern Wisconsin.  I have no idea what the premise was.  I do remember being in front of the class and asking her some question that related to having been yanked out of a rather urban environment.

Fast forward into the last half of senior year, which brought a new set of classes and a new study hall which met in the cafeteria.  The study hall teacher was convinced that if he placed us boy / girl in alphabetical order that there would be very little talking.  Senior year and the boys and girls don’t talk to each other?  Anyway, I lucked out and this “city kid” was planted right next to me.

We became friends pretty quickly.  We sometimes commiserated about how the little hick town of Rhinelander took some getting used to.   Mostly I acted like the silly person I still am today, writing silly stories and sharing them at school, acting weird, making her laugh.  I admit though, that I was a bit dumb about dating and it basically took a clunk over the head with a big stick for me to get a clue.  That came in the form of female attire:  she switched from blue jeans and smock tops to dresses and make up.

I remember being mesmerized by this lovely lady and exclaiming to myself, “OH!  I get it now!  SHE LIKES ME!!!”

Fast forward again to May 19.  The “big day.”  By this time we were more than friends… no kissing or anything yet…  However, each of us were going steady with another.  Her beau was in the Navy and my sweetheart was in a suburb of Chicago.  My new lady friend wrote her Navy man a “dear John” letter (poor guy).  My dirty work was done face to face:  she was due to come “to the cottage” for the first of her family’s annual northward treks.  We met during one of her family’s summer stays and wrote gooshy letters when she had to go back home.

So on May 19 I hopped on my Honda CB-175 and rode to Holiday Acres to let my long distance sweetheart goodbye.  Not fun, but business, as they say, is business.

That day was, no fooling, the first day of the rest of my life.  May 19, 1972.  My new love and I rode to the fire tower and climbed to the top.  One could see for miles from up there.  Back down we went, off to the Dairy Queen for an ice cream, and basically just burned up the daylight enjoying each other’s company.  Upon nightfall we hopped back on the Honda and buzzed back to the fire tower to catch a glimpse of the small town lights and thousands of stars.

I drove her home, again no smooching yet… just two youngsters falling in love and loving life.

We got married the following year and are still smitten with each other to this day.  Sure, we’ve had good times and bad.  Marriage has given us many “growth opportunities.”  Nearly grew apart a few times… both of us have indulged in shenanigans that could have destroyed our relationship.  Fortunately for us, The Divine Committee Upstairs apparently kept smiling on us and gave us the ability to work out our problems.  Our marriage is very good.  Not every day is happy happy joy joy mind you.  We’re into reality now.  If you’re old like me you might remember a bumper sticker that read:  REALITY IS FOR PEOPLE WHO CAN’T HANDLE DRUGS.  Well, guess what?  We’ve handled more than our share of drugs and we much prefer reality.  Sometimes reality stinks and puts us in a bad mood; which helps us say or do stupid and even hurtful things.  We still butt heads occasionally; but a “fight” that often lasted days or even longer now gets shrugged off in less than an hour.  Most of the time.

We are still very much in love and tell each other so every day.  We even have that same 1970 Honda CB-175 motorcycle… it sits patiently in our shed waiting for both of us to get skinny enough to be on it together again.  Hasn’t run in years but hey, it’s a Honda… we’ll get it going.  Life is good.  We have each other, a nice home, cars that actually run and don’t even leak oil.  We are blessed and very grateful for it.  She even lets me kiss her!

May 19, 1972.  We celebrate it every year.  I had a crazy work schedule yesterday so not much celebrating except a kiss and hug and a “Happy First Date!”  I made up for it today; I picked lilacs for her.  Then I picked some asparagus from the garden and made asparagus and bean wet burritos.  Now that’s living!!

Oh by the way, please don’t tell anyone about the fire tower, I don’t think we were supposed to be up there.

Our favorite songs from all those years ago still conjure up some rather blissful memories. We both still love “Strawberry Fields Forever” but alas, the song’s video shows the Fab Four doing some rather weird stuff. Hey, it was the ’60s for crying out loud. So I found a much nicer video. Although my favorite Beatle is not necessarily Paul, this song still brings warmth to our hearts when we hear it.