This story does not contain any graphic sex. It could have easily fit in the Romantic and Loving Wives categories, but since I wrote this as a Celebrities story, I put it in the Celebrities category.
I’m not sure why I’m publishing this account. I have a wonderful life and my wife, Helen, is the best woman a man could have. We’ve been very happy together, and she’s tolerated my faults for a long time. I guess it’s because I still can’t believe what happened to us, and to her.
I first met Helen when she was working at the local grocery. She was an eighteen year old cashier, and I was twenty-one and just getting started in my career as a computer analyst / programmer. It was 1983, and the Internet was still an academic network. I worked on what were then called client / server systems. Personal computers had just become popular in businesses, and my job was making them work with the large computer systems that already existed.
After buying several hundred dollars of groceries, I finally got up the nerve to speak to Helen. We flirted in the grocery store a few times before I got the nerve up to ask her out. We found out we enjoyed a lot of the same things. We went on walks in the woods, to the movies, and out to eat. Sometimes when we were out we would run into one of Helen’s high school friends. I met her best friend, Eileen, in the movie theater line. Eileen and Helen spent a lot of time together in high school, but hadn’t seen each other much after graduation. Eileen told us she was singing in local clubs, and after that, whenever we could, we’d go and hear her sing. Eileen and Helen exchanged numbers, and kept in touch.
Helen and I dated for a little over three years before I got down on my knee and proposed to her. She said yes, and Eileen was Helen’s maid of honor. Helen looked beautiful in her white wedding dress, and I looked pretty sharp in my navy blue suit. I don’t remember much about the wedding except that Helen and I were very happy.
I couldn’t afford a honeymoon, so I took a few days off of work to stay home. Helen made me a very happy man, and I really didn’t want to go back to work. She found lots of ways to surprise me. I didn’t know what to expect when I got home. She prepared many different dinners and planned lots of bedroom fun. We were very happy until we heard that Eileen’s parents died in an auto accident.
Our lives changed with the news. Helen helped Eileen get through the funeral, and with her grieving. I wish I could say I understood, but the truth was I was mad at Helen for spending so much time with Eileen. Helen had spoiled me, and I’m ashamed to say I reacted like a spoiled brat. I know now that the family and lots of friends jumped in to help Eileen, but at the time, it seemed like Helen was doing all the helping. Eileen worked hard the next few years raising her half-brothers and sister. Helen helped where and when she could.
I focused my energy on my career. After a few years of hard work and luck, I was moderately successful. I decided it would be fun to take some time off, and have the nice honeymoon we couldn’t afford. I still remember how Helen squealed with joy when we first talked about getting away. I left it to her to decide where she wanted to go. I came home from work one Friday to a grinning Helen.
Helen kissed me as I came in the door. “How was your day, sweetie?”
I gave Helen a big hug. “Great darling. How was your day?”
Helen led me into the dining room. Dinner was on the table. “Pretty good. I decided where I’d like to go for our honeymoon.”
We sat down at the table. “Where?”
Helen passed the mashed potatoes. “Niagara Falls.”
I smiled. “That’s definitely a honeymoon destination. Not too far away either.”
We ate our dinner. Helen broke the silence. “Honey, can I ask you a big favor?”
“Sure, sweetie, what is it?”
Helen turned her face away from me. “Could we bring Eileen on our honeymoon?”
I sat there, stunned. Why in the world would Helen want to bring her friend on our honeymoon? I could feel the anger rising in me. I was about to yell something I would have regretted when I saw the sad expression on her face. I counted to fifty and calmed myself down.
“It’s important to you that Eileen come with us, isn’t it?”
Helen looked at me with tears in her eyes. “Yes honey, it is. The poor woman’s been working so hard to keep her family going. While I was telling her what we’d planned, I could see by the expression on her face that she’d love to take a vacation like that.” She smiled at me. “It would make me very happy if we could take her with us.”
