Old Flames
Dave and Genny after forty-five years
More than one mom
My dad became a single father when my mother died during my birth; back in the 1950s, single fathers were few and far between.
I had aunt after aunt come visit, to help for a month at a time. Two of my mother's sisters came to help, and my dad's sister came to help. But when my mother's third sister came, she brought her whole family-- Aunt Alice, Uncle Charlie, Cousin Kathy four years older than me, and Cousin Bonnie, who was only four-and-a-half months older than me. When we all went someplace, everyone thought Bonnie and I were twins. For almost four years we were a family of six, three parents and three children. Just before my fourth birthday, my dad remarried to the woman to this day, I call mom.
I am a happy-go-lucky guy; I fall in love easily, and get my heart broken a lot.
But this is a story of re-gained love.
My teenage years were in the 1960s. It was a time of old ways colliding with the new ways. I was in high school and I really liked one girl that was in orchestra with me. I was smitten. Her name was Virginia McKee, Genny for short, and I basically only had eyes for her. She had come from the other junior high in my school district, so we had just started to get to know each other when we got into high school. We had the customary group dates-- a bunch of teenagers at the mall, going to the movies, to the fireman's fair, and we always ended up being together. Freshman year was great for our teenage romance.
During this time, religion was a great divider. Just a few years before that time, you just didn't date anyone from another religion, but then, the line was getting crossed a little bit at a time. I was Presbyterian, Genny was Catholic, and according to my dad, that was the worst thing to be. You see, my birth mother, according to my dad, was killed by the doctors in a Catholic hospital on the day of my birth, because of some Catholic ideology, that was
his story
.
Dad laid down an edict, I could
not
date a Catholic! Instead of being boyfriend and girlfriend, Genny and I became
just
friends. My heart was broken.
After high school, we went to college, we married other people, had kids, divorced. We said hello to each other at our high school's ten-year reunion. We did connect through social media around 1993, and had kept up contact for almost sixteen years. We both went to the forty-year reunion in 2009, where we spent a lot of time together during the that night.
In 2010, Genny said she was going to have a layover in Phoenix on her way to visit a girlfriend in Southern California, and was wondering if I would be free to spend three hours at the airport during a layover with her on that Thursday evening.
I told her, "I'd love to."
When we 'broke up', I never told her it was an edict from my dad, that I just kind of got real busy with activities at school and working, yes, it was the chicken way out, but I was only fourteen and did not know how to do a 'break-up' properly (I, actually, still don't know).
Sky Harbor
I met her in the concourse, and we went to the nearest restaurant to have an early dinner. We caught up on both our lives, the highs and lows, her divorce, and my two divorces. During dinner, I told her about dad's edict. I apologized, saying how sorry I was for not telling her why I had no time for a relationship with her in high school. I was almost tearing up.
She told me she really had strong feelings for me back then. I told her I had strong feelings for her back then, too.
We talked about how we never connected again until that first high school reunion, when we both were married. We were both polite to each other then, but there seemed to be hidden feelings at that time. We both missed both the twentieth and thirtieth reunions, as we were both busy with families and divorces. Since we both went to the fortieth-year reunion in 2009, this meeting was kind of a continuation of the reunion for us.
Our evening was perfect for a 'Dinner At The Airport.'
The call
Her cell phone rang and she answered it. Her face took on a worried look, The mother of the friend that she was going to visit had to be taken to the hospital, and her friend was not going to be able to spend time with Genny.
Genny said, "I guess I need to book a flight to get back to Texas."
I said, "When are you scheduled to return to Texas?"
"I was going to stay about a week with Karen."
I stepped out on a limb, "Well have you ever seen Arizona? I have a two-bedroom condo and
if you'd like
we could do some sightseeing here...
if you'd like
."
Genny thought for a while and said, "Okay."
"Let's run down to the customer service and get your bags before they load them on the plane."
Genny rolled her eyes and said, "I hope so!"
A former student
When we got to customer service, there was a twenty-something little blonde at the counter. As I began to talk to her, she exclaimed, "Mr Reid! I haven't seen you in nine or ten years!"
I looked at her name badge, and it said 'Allison'.
I only had one student named Allison in the last fifteen years. "So, you have to be Allison Thompson."
With a giggle and a nod, she asked me, "Is this your wife?"
Genny, with a giggle, answered, "I'll never tell."
I just smiled with a face that was about to turn red.
Allison said to Genny, "Well, you are a lucky woman; he was one of my best teachers."
Allison continued, "Mr Reid, you still teaching?"
"No, I retired a year ago. Okay, let's get Genny's luggage."
Genny gave Allison her claim ticket and Allison said, "I'll be back soon, have a seat."
Allison's replacement came to the desk after twenty minutes and said, "Allison's shift is over, but she said that she will not leave, until she finds the luggage. Are you a relative?"
"No, I was her eighth-grade teacher."
"Wow, you must have been good, she is going right out to the tarmac for you!"
After another ten minutes, Allison came back in with a luggage cart, which had luggage on it that Genny recognized as hers.
Allison's hair was a little messed up, and her forehead had a little sweat beads still on it. I pulled out a twenty-dollar bill, and Genny pulled one out, too, and we gave her a forty-dollar tip. I had to use my teacher voice to get her to take it. I hugged Allison and told her how delightful it was to see her again.
Seeing Phoenix
We walked out to my truck, and I put Genny's luggage in the truck bed. I walked around my truck and opened my passenger door for Genny. I helped her find the seatbelt, and I walked back around to my door.
When we pulled out of the airport, I asked, "Would you like to see Phoenix from a mountain first?"
Nodding her head, "Okay."
I drove up Camelback Mountain. "Now, I can't park here, so get a good look as I drive
slooowly
," I said, with a wink. "The homes here are in the eight figures."