Our story

This how we met and eventually married. 

At the end of ‘73 or beginning of ‘74, I was living on Montecito street in Tucson.  It was 4, sometimes 5 GIs.  We were all stationed at the local AF base, DMAFB http://maps.google.com/maps?ie=UTF-8&hl=en&tab=wl.  Lots of good times.  Pool outside.  It was a duplex.  A couple moved in next door from Indiana (I found out later).  They seemed nice.  He (Gary) was about 26 and she was my age, 20.  I remember I was a little jealous because she very attractive and seemed to be fun.  He was well, older.  He was a nice guy too; all was good.  At that point I hadn’t been on a date let alone much else.  We all got along.  Swimming in the pool.  Having barbecues.  Generally just having parties on my meager GI salary.

I was Honorably Discharged in June ‘74 and bought a car from a friend (Gary Vissering), and with $100 in my pocket and a mutt named Blue, I headed East in October.  I think I was seeking my destiny or some shit like that.  The joke was that we were called Me and Drew and a dog named Blue. 

But I digress …  The next time I saw Stephanie, except for just some incidental visits, was in 1988.  I was living in the Bay Area in El Cerrito http://maps.google.com/maps?ie=UTF-8&hl=en&tab=wl.  At that time, I only drove my car for errands.  BART was so easy to take.  I took a vacation on my 650 Yamaha Turbo and stayed with Mark & Pam Staszak.  Stephanie married Gary and had two girls: Alexis (11) and Elizabeth (6).  I met them both for about 30 seconds and then they went off to bed.  I remember visiting Stephanie at her job at the local paper.  I think her main job was editing the TV Guide.  It was pretty cool and she really seemed to enjoy it.

The next time I went on vacation to Tucson was in 1990.  I had a new Olds Cutlass Supreme and it was burgundy.  Stephanie et al had moved back to Indiana and I heard from Pam that they had divorced.  About two years later, Pam mentioned to both of us that we should write each other.  Nothing more than that crossed my mind as I couldn’t see living in the snow/cold again, growing up back East.  But writing sure seemed innocent enough.  Well, the more we wrote, the more we wrote.  After about a year, we decided it was time to take a vacation so I spent three weeks in Indianapolis starting 4th of July weekend of ‘93.  I arrived on Friday, about 5PM on the 2nd.  We kissed for the first time at the airport and we both commented that it seemed that everything and everyone disappeared while we kissed.  This was the first of a lot of magical moments.  Well, I stayed on her couch at http://maps.google.com/maps?ie=UTF-8&hl=en&tab=wl during this visit and we didn’t even become intimate for almost a week.  I guess I wanted (and it was her wish too) to make sure that this wasn’t just physical and that we both wanted and were ready to take the next step.  I was there until the 25th and I’m sure we just did it twice.  Not bad for someone who hadn’t had any for almost 5 years.  I thought I showed admirable restraint.