Marti, a very dear family friend, blogged her memories for weeks as she cared for her husband of 43 years. The blog is completed now. A beautiful tribute to Al’s life, their marriage, and their journey to their forever home. “He is at home now,” Marti wrote near the blog’s end. Nearer the beginning of her blog she wrote:
“Anniversary of our first date.
September 19, 1965. Al called me at Mundinger Hall at St. Johns College in Winfield, Kansas. I had ended a one-year relationship because the first guy was such a great person, but so serious, and I wasn’t ready to talk marriage as a sophomore in college.
Apparently, Al and his buddy Dave flipped a coin because both wanted to ask me on a date, and Al won. Dave asked someone else, and we four drove into the country where Dave’s sister and family had a small ranch. We spent the afternoon riding horses.
My first horse just wanted to go home. Not being an accomplished rider at all, I was fighting to stay in control. Finally, we rode back to the stable and Dave got permission to ride the thoroughbreds. I have never experienced such grace, beauty, and freedom. They ran like the wind and responded quickly to every tug on the reins.
At the end of the adventure, Al and I rode back to the ranch in a light rain in the back of a truck with a wet farm dog between us, sheltered by a horse blanket to keep dry.
Al decided since I was cute and fun to be with, he would find a way to have a second date, so he said he would drive me to Wichita, an hour away, to see my family. But that second date is another story.
Al dubbed the date (a parody on Back to the Future I) “The Enchantment Under the Horse Blanket” date.
Happy 47th anniversary of our first date, Allan. You are so precious.”
Thank you, Marti, for allowing me to pen into poetry what you so preciously penned in prose.
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