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.
The first week for me went quietly. I swam, did some fishing, lots of reading and walking. I noticed that Saturday that Leroy, the doctor next to me, sped out of the campgrounds but left the pop-up and his wife behind. She walked over to where I was sitting in some shade and asked if she could join me. I learned Leroy had been called into the hospital for an emergency.
As we talked I learned his wife, I'll call her Dorie, was a stay-at-home wife. Her hobbies were gardening and sewing. She began to ask me how I was handling being single after such a long marriage. I told her I had resigned myself to life without a woman in it and that I like living alone. She began to talk about how lonely she felt at times now that the kids were gone and Leroy worked long hours. My radar went up and that little voice in my head sent "be careful" warnings to me. I listened and didn't pursue the subject.