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.