Living in Northern Illinois, Wisconsin wasn't that far away. And so sure enough, when Richard announced we were leaving at Wisconsin that morning, I excitedly showered and got dressed, quickly stopping at my house to get into some clean clothes while Richard waited outside in the car.
When I came home that morning, needless to say, my folks were irked at my behavior. As I dressed in my bedroom, my father stood outside my bedroom door pleading with me not to go out with this man.
"Daddy," I said. "I love him and I'm going to be with him!"
"But sweetheart," he said. "I know you're infatuated, but that's not love."
All dressed, I opened my door, "Daddy, I love him and that's all there is to it."
I ran downstairs and, still with many protests from my parents, I ran outside and hopped into Richard's car and off we went to Wisconsin. Richard announced we were going to Wisconsin to bet at the dog tracks. I leaned over and kissed him on the cheek excitedly. Betting was one of my favorite past times.
After a few minutes on the road, we stopped at a stop light. Richard looked me up and down, looking at my skimpy outfit.
"You look very dishy," he said.
I giggled, "Thank you, baby."
"Sweetheart," he began, sounding more serious. "A divorce is in the making. I served Nicole with divorce papers about a week ago." I was shocked. I knew he wanted a divorce, but I didn't think he would get it rolling so quickly. "You're the only one I want to be with."
I hugged him close, "Oh baby." I felt a few tears come to my eyes. "I want to be with you too."
We were both very emotional, realizing we were going to be together. The light turned green and we went on our way. The trip was going to take about two hours and we stopped at a rest stop about an hour into it to stretch our legs, etc.
Since it was Memorial Day weekend, the rest stop was quite crowded. I sat outside snacking on a bag of Bugles while Richard was inside using the little boys room. Little kids ran past me, giggling, playing tag, while mothers looked out for them worriedly and fathers had their noses buried maps trying to figure out how exactly to get to their destination without asking for directions and how, most importantly, to fold the map.
Richard approached me with his own bag of chips and soda. He sat beside me. It was such a beautiful day out. It was about 11 o'clock in the morning and the sun was shining. It was hot out, but the wild wind tossed our hair about and cooled us somewhat.
We played with one another, feeding each other chips, tickling each other.
"Those Doritos are very good," I said. "Give me another please," I asked sweetly.
"Alright, you got it baby."
I opened my mouth and he very slowly began to direct it into my mouth - when all of a sudden he pulled back and ate it for himself.
I hit him playfully, "Now you stop that!" I laughed.
He laughed till his stomach hurt. He thought he was quite the comedian - and he was too. That's one of the things I loved about him, his humor. We settled down after a few minutes and sat quietly. He then got up and softly held my legs and swung them over the side so I'd be facing outward with my back towards the table. I looked at him questioningly.
He got down on one knee, pulling a black box out of his pocket. He opened it and presented to me a beautiful ring.
"Will you marry me, sweetheart?" he asked.
I looked down at him, his dark eyes looking up with fear and love and hopefulness. His dark hair blew in the wind. I started to whimper and cry with joy, "Yes, yes baby. I will."
He slid the ring on my finger and held my hands, standing me up in front of him. We kissed softly. We broke our kiss when we heard noises behind us.
"Ewww!" squealed one little girl. "They just kissed! Now she's got boy cooties!"
We laughed, drying the tears from our eyes. We decided to get back into the car and continue our trip. We held hands all the way. I could feel my hands sweating. I loved Richard, but I was nervous at the thought of being someone's wife. Would I be able to do it right? Richard said time would ease my fears, saying that we wouldn't be able to marry for several months, till the divorce was final.
With the holiday weekend, the traffic was heavier than usual and we finally arrived at our destination at 12:30. The man at the dog tracks said that the first race started at 2:30, so we still had a couple of hours to kill. The man suggested we take a walk on a nearby bike path. Richard and I agreed to that.
We parked in the parking lot and started to walk along the bike path. We held hands and talked. The weather had turned much muggier than before, and the wind was practically dead. We were both sweating through our clothes. On either side of the back path were blankets of trees, which offered shade, but not much relief from the sweaty mugginess. Richard stopped in his tracks and looked to the left.
"What is that?" he said, pointing.
I looked. "It just looks like trees to me."
"No, past that. It looks like a water hole."
I looked harder and spotted what he saw, "Oh yes, I see it now."