Saturday, November 26, 2022

Ms. Moon's Post

 Ms. Moon posted her 'how did you meet' story, and it was sweet and it is funny, and she is right. The smallest choices can be life altering. What would have happened had she not gone to a dive bar the day after Thanksgiving? 

My story lacks the romance, I suppose. Tim is very shy. I was also coming out of a very bad marriage to a very bad man who was on his way to a very bad place. How did a woman who considered herself intelligent get tangled up in that? I didn't know, but what I did know was that it was never going to happen again. I had 3 children to rear and then I was going to be a genial old lady with a nice garden and a cat. 

Life goal, people. It was my life goal. 

So I'm working night shift at a factory, and Tim was a machinist/mechanic there. He was very quiet, very efficient, slipping around from machine to machine keeping everything running. Sometimes his friend would be with him.

Now John was a talker. He'd talk your leg off. Tim would just stand quietly by and listen. Laugh. Add the occasional word to the conversation. 

One day, my machine was having difficulty and Tim stood by to see what it was doing. During the course of the observation, he talked a little. More than I'd ever heard him talk, anyway. He'd heard that I'd just had a birthday. "Yes," I said, "It was one of those milestones. I just turned 40." He looked very surprised. His chin lifted off his hand and he said, "So did I. When's your birthday?" And I said, "May 21st. When's yours?" and he lauhged and said. "April 21st." He had the most pecuiliar expression on his face. "Do you go to church?" he asked. Intent on what I was doing, I answered, "Yes. Every Sunday. I'm an Episcopal Lay Minister." 

I turned around and the man had vanished. He was gone. I thought 'that really is the shyest man that I have ever met.' 

After that day though, Tim began to put himself forward. He coordinated his breaks with my breaks. He ate lunch when I ate lunch. He began to talk a bit more. He was a good friend at a time when I needed a good friend. And when I bought a bed for one of the kids, he had a truck that he offered up right away. He stayed for supper and liked it a lot. 

And so it began. 

I was very clear about the fact that I was never going to marry again. Not ever. 

It didn't stop him from asking. Multiple times. He took every turn down in stride. What I didn't know was that he'd been divorced for 8 long years. His shyness was a problem. He had a prayer. He wanted to meet a sensible woman his own age who went to church. He prayed that for months. That was what he wanted. 

He knew I was the answer to his prayer from that first day at my malfunctioning machine. 

I know he is lucky that I was unaware of all of this. 

He asked me many times. Finally, shortly before Christmas, he asked yet again. I studied him. He was a good man. A quiet person. I decided that I could trust my own judgement on this one, and so I said yes. His astonishment was plain to see. He asked me to repeat myself. I did. He got up and put on his boots and left. 

The kids got home from school and we had a quiet supper. We were getting ready for a Christmas party at my parents' house. "Where's Tim?" they asked. 

"I don't know," I answered.

"Isn't he going with us?" they wanted to know. 

"I don't know," I answered. I didn't believe that he was coming back, and the ironic thing was that he'd been really pestering about marriage for so long. I didn't know that all I had to do was to say 'yes', to put a halt to all of that. 

Shortly before we were to leave. Tim came walking back in the house. It was my turn to be astonished. "I didn't think you were coming back!" 

He said, "Why would you think that?" 

I said, "You didn't say anything. You just left." 

He said, "I've got a big family. I wanted to tell them that we were getting married. That's a lot of phone calls." 

The kids said, "Wait, you're getting married?"

I said, "My God, Tim. You need to learn to talk." 

I've been saying it for 25 years now. 

Late edit: Sorry that Ms. Moon's link was not initially included. 


44 comments:

  1. Awwwwwww! That is so lovely.

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  2. Oof.. beats my marriage proposal by a mile.

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    1. I know that you told us yours. When I have time, I'm going back to find it!

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  3. Wish I had could have got myself a lady Episcopal Lay Minister. What a wonderful post.

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    1. Ah, but Dave, your wife KNITS!!!! She waves some sticks over yarn and little warm clothes appear as if by magic! I am in awe by powers such as those!

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  4. wonderful story!! Glad it's been a "keeper" for 25 years !! It would make a great Harlequin book!!

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    1. Oh my. That's a name that brings back memories. Harlequin romances! I was surprised that they are still going. I guess we all still long for a sweet love story!

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  5. Lovely story Debby, perhaps we should all write one. And so the old lady and cat did not go to live in the woods, but married happily...

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    1. I think that's a fine idea, Thelma. We all have our stories. I remember part of yours. You met as scout leaders?

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  6. Such a nice story! Gee the more I read about Tim... 25 years, congratulations. :^)

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    1. He's learned to talk, Doug. Some would say he took it up in self defense.

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  7. That's a great story! So many people try and try to meet someone, but sometimes the best relationships seem to spark almost accidentally.

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    1. I honestly think that the secret is to stop looking.

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  8. This story is every bit as romantic as any I've read. So lovely!

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    1. His loveliness is on the couch right now coughing. We've argued about his cold medicine. He does not want to take it. We will go to bed in a few minutes and he will cough and snore all night long. Don't tell me romance is dead!

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  9. Your story isn't lacking at all in romance and it's a great story! Thanks ever so much for sharing. May you & Tim have many, many, many more years together!

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    1. I think the first 25 years are the hardest. I'm pretty sure we're good now.

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  10. Great love story, I could hardly wait to read the next line to see the outcome. I met my man at church, I was the farmer's daughter, and he was a city boy. What a surprise to both of us when we fell in love. He took a lot of teasing about marrying the farmer's daughter. He fit in so well with my whole family, they loved him. He had a rough childhood and was not used to all the love and hugs my family gave him. He told me the day he married me he gained the family the wanted. We were married 50 years when he passed away. I think if I found the right old man I could love again. Being alone is no fun.

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    1. As hard as it is to be alone now, how lucky you were to have those 50 years. So many are looking for what we stumbled in to, and never, ever find it.

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  11. That's good .When the right person turns up you have to trust your intuition.

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    1. That's the thing, gz. Really. If I'd have trusted my intuition, I'd have taken a miss on many a horrible experience. At my age, I have learned to listen to that inner voice.

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  12. What is great story. I love Tim! And your sense of humor, too. You've got to talk!

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    1. Let me tell you, marriage is a lot tougher when you cannot find something to laugh about.

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  13. I love your story and mine is similar though I wasn’t married before.i decided being a spinster was just fine and then I met my quiet machinist and we got to talking and a month later we were engaged.that was 37 years ago. The quiet,faithful working fellows can be the best mates. Lini

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    1. Ah. The machinists are capturing the hearts of women everywhere . Quietly, of course.

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  14. That's such a nice story of slow blooming relationship that has now stood the test of time.

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    1. If it hadn't, you'd be reading a blog written by an old woman, her cats and a garden~ How did you and R meet?

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  15. That's sweet and funny. Use your words Tim:)

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    1. We still have that discussion. Well. Discussion = me saying, 'Tim I don't read minds. TELL ME!'

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  16. What a sweet story😍Thanks for sharing!

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  17. Oh! How very sweet! I love this story. Isn't it funny how life takes us down paths we'd never imagined it could? Although I guess that Tim had imagined and prayed for it.
    So beautiful.

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  18. Great story. I'm glad it turned out to be happy and successful.

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  19. I love your love story. It truly is a marriage made in Heaven.

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  20. Thanks for sharing that story.

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  21. I appreciate the account. He was persisted with you. And persistently taciturn.

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