The story is true. Only the names are changed to protect the innocent and the guilty. It took place in 2004; two years after my wife of 34 years left me for another man.
It had been almost two years. I finally took a three-week vacation. I loaded up my RV, got a map and just drove south until I found a lovely tent/RV camping spot. Setting up my RV took little time and soon I was relaxing in the sun reading a book.
Now, I am not what anyone would call a "hunk!" I wasn't fat, but at 5'8" my 170 lbs. fit me well. I confess that handsome is not how anyone would describe me. I easily get lost in a roomful of wallflowers. Being in my early 50's I was well past the partying stage of life. Even then it had been quite a while since any woman had given me the "come hither" look. So what happened this day caught me by surprise!
Camped next to me in a small pop-up camper was a couple who appeared to be about 10-15 years younger than I. As I helped them set up that night I learned that their daughter had recently gotten married and they had the empty-nest syndrome. This was their first solo camping trip in many years. We shared some pizza from my oven and talked a little. Then about 10 they went to their camper and I went to bed.
Just as I was not a "heart-throb" looking man, neither were they "sexy" as we think of it. She was a mother who had some hard times and he was your typical middle-aged man. He was a doctor who had not been on vacation for years.