Life had been going smoothly, I guess it was too smooth and I should have expected something but Kelli and I had had a very good marriage. Twenty-two years in fact. We had the usual bumps in the road but nothing major and life had turned out pretty good, at least as far as I was concerned but here's my story:
Kelli and I had gone together since we met in our first week of high school and I fell head over heels in love with her. Her reddish-blond hair, her general build, her sparkling green eyes, and that killer smile she gave me, indicated that she liked what she saw when she caught me looking at her most of my lunch period. I was just picking up my lunch tray to return it when she walked by with her friend and Kelli said, "I hope you know it's not polite to stare." I coughed and was trying to think up a good answer but before I could get any words out of my now parched throat, this angel said, "Next time, just come on over and sit down and talk with us, OK? We won't bite . . . hard." Then they both walked to their next class giggling and looking back at me.
The next day, I took her up on her offer and sat across from them and we made our introductions. Kelli Thompson and her friend Angela Melinowski. Angela was a large girl, but still very beautiful. She wasn't fat, while Kelly was 5' 1" and said she weighed 101 pounds, Angela was almost 6' and wouldn't tell us her weight. She was on the girl's wrestling and weight-lifting teams. She was one hell of a lot stronger than I was and I worked out quite a bit. By the way, I'm Michael Grant, 5' 8" when I met Kelli. I wormed my way into Kelli's heart by being her friend first, and by helping her parents around their house. If I went over for dinner, I'd make sure that Kelli and I would clean the table after dinner and we would do the dishes which made Mrs. Thompson pretty happy. Mr. Thompson would say, "You see now Sara, I told you we didn't need to waste money and buy a dishwasher, Kelli got us one." He'd laugh at his joke and get another beer out of the refrigerator and plunk himself down in his recliner in front of the TV.
I was also pretty handy working on cars and fixed Mr. Thompson's car saving him from having to go to a mechanic. During high school, when I wasn't studying, I was buying non-running cars and fixing and cleaning them up to sell. Some were pretty easy fixes but others needed the engine and transmission rebuilt. My uncle Tim helped me a lot while he was staying with us. At the time, I didn't quite understand why he was there so much but it turned out he was often kicked out by his current girlfriend or wife for playing around with another woman. He did teach me a lot about cars though.
I worked hard in school and so did Kelli. We both had goals, I wanted to be an engineer and Kelli wanted to be a surgical nurse. That meant we needed good grades and scholarships to afford college. We would study late at night quite often, her mom coming down to check on us from time to time. She never caught us doing anything because we really weren't. Kelly had only once let me get to first base before shutting down and saying that she was afraid of getting pregnant and messing up her chances of becoming a nurse. We did have some very heavy make-out sessions, and an hour or so of dry-humping with her and I'd say I needed to use the bathroom and only one or two strokes and I'd be blasting off into the toilet. After we were married, Kelli told me when I went to the bathroom, she'd run her fingers over her clit and orgasm like crazy. I had made quite a lot of money fixing up the cars that I had originally planned on using for college, but at our graduation, I knelt down before Kelli and asked her to marry me, presenting her with a 4-carat diamond ring encircled by 6 rubies and several diamond chips. After much crying, she said "YES!",
Then her mother came over and asked, "Ok Michael, just when are you planning on having this wedding?"
I kissed Kelli's hand, the one with the ring, and said, "Right after our next graduation ceremony."
By this time I had grown to 6' 2" and Kelli was now 5' 7 with these perfect 36 C's that defied gravity. They not only passed the pencil test, in order for a stamp to stay there, you would have to lick it. Guess how I knew?
Kelli and I had a good summer though I knew we wouldn't be seeing too much of each other once college started. Kelli's nursing college was 45 miles away but she was still going to live at home, her mother insisted on it. I had started at the local state college using a grant I obtained due to my grades. I had joined the Air Force ROTC at Mr. Thompson's suggestion, figuring it would look good on my resume'. My first year at college went great and I worked hard to learn each subject. When the grades were posted, I ended up with a 3.96 average.
At my next ROTC meeting in early August, the Lieutenant handed me an envelope and asked, "I hope you will take them up on their offer." I opened the envelope and inside were all the explanations I needed. It was an invitation to come up and visit the campus up at the U.S. Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs, Colorado. I asked Kelli if she wanted to go with me but she had taken on extra classes and she said she couldn't afford to miss them. I drove up and was given the royal treatment while I was there. They had assigned a senior cadet, Walker, J. to me to show me around and anywhere I asked to go, he showed me, plus taking me to all the historic spots around campus. Lunch was outside with barbecued hamburgers, hot dogs, and even veggie burgers for the few that wanted them. I was surprised at the fun activities they provided for the regular students too.
When the speaker sounded 18:00 hours, Walker guided me to the mess hall and instead of us sitting at the rows of tables where the cadets were sitting, Walker guided me up to the head table where the Commandant and his subordinates were sitting. There was a placard with my name on it next to Major General Harold P. James. He stood and welcomed me and told me to sit. As I did, I asked, "Sir, does every prospect get to sit with you at the head table?"
His smile filled his face and he said, "Son, you sure speak your mind, don't you? Art said you'd be a good fit here and I'm taking a liking to you already. He called me this morning and said he's known you for years and that if the Air Force didn't take you under our wing, we'd be the biggest asses since President . . . well never mind."
I looked at him because I didn't know any Art. "Sir, excuse me, sir. Who is this Art person you are talking about?"
The general chuckled and nudged one of the men on his other side before asking me, "You mean you don't know your girlfriend's father's first name?"
I swallowed hard and managed to get out, "Mr. Thompson?"
The general slapped me on the back and said, "That's him son, old Art Thompson. One of the craziest airmen I've ever known. If we wanted to party, that man would disappear from base and come back with a case of booze for us, no questions asked. If we needed parts for our planes, Art could come up with them. Don't ask me how but he would find out what someone had and what they needed and trade for them. I swear that man could trade a girl out of her virginity for one of my airmen before she knew it." The whole front table broke into laughter at that statement. After dinner, the general asked me to follow him to his office. We were accompanied by Walker J. and two of the general's aides.
He sat behind his huge oak desk and pointed at the chair in front of his desk and had me sit in it, telling the others to sit at the overstuffed leather couch along the wall. He pushed a small stack of papers in front of me and said, "Michael Grant, we here at the United States Air Force Academy would be proud to have you as one of our cadets. With the recommendations we have and your grades, I have procured a full-ride scholarship for you contingent on your continuing good grades. Son, with what I have seen so far, maintaining that should be a breeze. What do you say, would you like to become an Air Force Cadet?"
I was gobsmacked. I swallowed hard and finding my voice, I said, "General, I do believe that your offer is the best thing that ever happened to me. But sir, I would like to talk it over with my parents and my girlfriend, Kelli, and her parents. May I give you my answer in 48 hours, sir?"
General James smiled and said, "Mr. Grant, actually you may take up to a week but no longer, understand?" I stood and shook his hand and thanked him and was escorted by Walker J. to the barracks we shared for the night before driving home the next morning.
As I stepped out of my car, Kelli ran up to me throwing her arms around my neck, kissing me deeply with tears in her eyes, and said, "Michael, I'm going to miss you so much. Promise me that you won't get involved with any of those cute female cadets while you're away." It seems that Kelli already knew all about the general's offer and I found out the general convinced her that it was really in her best interest if I accepted it.
I looked at her and said somewhat surprised, "I guess I don't have to tell you about their offer, do I?"
She smiled and said, "No, uncle Hal called last night and told us all about it."
I moved to hold her at arms-length and said, "Uncle Hal? Major General Harold P. James is your uncle?"
Kelli smiled and said, "Yes, he's mother's oldest brother, step-brother actually. His mother died giving birth to him and grandma James is the only mother he has ever known. My mother, Sara, being the baby of the family, became Hal's favorite. Besides, grandma James was sick after her birth and he felt it was his duty to take care of mom. They've always been very close. Uncle Hal is the one that introduced my father to my mother. He felt that he was an honorable man and would make her a good husband for her and father for her children and he was right."