Six days ago...January 15...was an anniversary...of sorts...for Cindy & I. We had our first date...39 years ago...on January 15, 1972.
After knowing one another as classmates and friends for the previous 6 years...it became more than 'just friends' a few weeks before that first date. We hit it off well that evening and when I took her home I asked if she'd like to go out again the next weekend.
She said YES.
On January 21st, we had our second date. Unfortunately, earlier that day...my mom died.
Mom was living in Atlanta with my sister and had not been doing well from her battle with cancer. Dad had flown down the day before to be with mom...realizing the end was near.
I didn't go.
Don't ask me why. Maybe I was 18 and stupid. Maybe I was in denial. I should've gone...but I didn't.
Rather than be alone that night, I kept my date with Cindy. I didn't tell her of the days events until the end of the evening when I took her home.
The words she said to me after I told her...well...they pretty much endeared her to me. As the days passed...I kept thinking that a person 'that' nice and caring...would be a good person to hang around with for awhile...to see if the feelings I had for her were real...or not.
I guess they were real.
39 years later...3 children...grandchildren...family tragedies...personal challenges...wonderful blessings...through the good...the bad...and the ugly...we're still together.
Would it all have been different if I'd gotten on that plane on the 20th and not gone on my date with Cindy on the 21st?
Probably not...but who can know for sure?
Would the feelings we shared that night have been different? Would the words that Cindy said...have not been said?
Sometimes the strangest coincidences can mean the difference in any given situation.
I'm not sure my mother would have known if I was there with her...or not...had I gone anyway. But I wish I would have gone...because 'I' would know that I had been there. But I've tried to reason with myself over the years because I can't change what happened.
Ultimately...I know mom would be proud of me...and happy for me...that all these years later...I'm still with...and still in love with...the one I traded her for that day.
Dan
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Those darn shoulda's. They sure hang around a long time.
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