I first fell in love with Aaron's mother when we were 10 years old. I saw her playing kickball on our neighborhood street, and I was hooked. I used to watch for any sign of her when I walked to the local store and passed her house. When we were 14, I finally got her attention and we went 'steady' for about two weeks. We were so totally different in our family life and our religious beliefs that I wanted to save her, with my father being a Southern Baptist Preacher, and she was a confirmed Catholic and just wanted to be left in peace. She decided that I would be a great match for one of her girlfriends, and when she told me so, I didn't let her know how much it hurt.
Throughout high school I still thought about her, watching down the street for any sign of her coming out of her house, looking towards her house when I walked to the store, following behind as she walked home from the bus stop. I left after high school and joined the Air Force, hearing just a couple years later that she had been killed in an auto accident. I was devastated even though I hadn't seen her in years. I carried her memory with me throughout the years and around the world.
After twenty years in the military, two marriages, three children, I retired and had a heart attack and stroke. I recovered from all these things but didn't have much zest for life. I was a recreational bass fisherman, but mainly just laid on the couch and watched wrestling and movies. Then one day I was visiting my mother, who still lived in the old neighborhood, and saw my former love's parents getting out of their car after grocery shopping. I stopped and spoke, asking them how they were doing and their daughters. I didn't want to bring up her name because I thought it would be too painful, but they mentioned that she was alive, well, and living with her three children just an hour's drive away! My heart almost stopped. I ran straight home, called her, and refused to tell her who I was. I just said I was an old, old friend and for her to check her email. She did and we started writing email back and forth. A few weeks later we agreed to meet for a soda, and the rest is our personal history. We wrote for months before we finally did get together, at first talking about the old days and remembering things from our childhood we had long forgotten. We found out we'd both lived very different lives and had changed quite a bit in our beliefs and our thinking. We fell in love. We married one year and one week ago.
| Here's the follow-up discussion on this article: | View all related messages |
For a complete listing of article comments, questions, and other discussions related to Aaron Joseph Goebel's Blended Families topic, please visit the Discussions page.