The Courtship of a Woman

This is a bit about the "dating" phase of our relationship.  Please under stand that there are somethings that are private therefore not shared here. 

CJ and I went out on our first dat on July 12th.  We went to see Men In Black and we ate at Ruby Teusday.  The only move I made toward her that night was holding her hand during the movie.  But it was enough for us.  After dinner and the movie, we walked along the beach.  We talked of Star Trek, her family, my family, and hot chocolate.  That is what lead to our favorite memory of the night, I asked her to marry me!  Yes I did.  mostly in jest but we both kind of felt that it was more and it set the course of our relationship.  She will tell you that she almost said yes.  And not really joking either.  The other memorable event that night was when I took her home to the dorms.  I had been studing a lot about marriage and men and women and those sort of things.  And as we sat there in the car, I did what few other men have done;  I asked her for a kiss.  She was speechless for sure.  She did not answer me that night.  And never really did.  She wanted to say yes and kiss me.  But she could not.  I think this too set up a part of our relationship.  $t spoke to her of how much I cared and respected her.  Over the next few weeks until she had to leave for her first duty station, we spent just about every moment together.  We when to pensicola FL and Mobile AL. and Memphis Tennessee.  We even tried to go to a casino boat for all you can eat crab les but she was not 21.  One night, I took her to Bay St. Loius to the beach we met at.  We walked and talked.  We held hands and kissed (she emplored a kiss out of me with those bright beautiful eyes).  I took her face in my hands that night.  Looked into those beautiful eyes and told her I loved her.  She was again speechless (I was good at that then) and she cryed.

It was a couple of weeks in FL when she found the courage to say she loved me too.  I had promised not to say it to her as not to cause pressure on her.  So in that hotel room in Pensacola (separate beds and a male friend of ours with us) in the dark, I heard out of the darkness, "I love you, Joe"  I could not quite beleive it so I when over to her and asked her to say it again. If I knew how it was for her to express her feelings, I would not have asked again.  But I did.  And she said "Ilove you".  I kissed her slow and long and soft.  She was beautiful there in the pale light from the window.

On the day before she left for CA, we walked along the beach (a favorite of ours).  We sat to rest a bit on the pier.  She was talking about her fears of losing me.  Us drifting apart.  I took her face in my hands.  Her face is always so soft!  I looked into her eyes and said," I am going to marry you.  There are only two people how would stop me.  You and God.  And God isn't saying no.

She left and we began our long distance relationship.  More to come....

The Story Begins.....

Hey, I want to welcome you to my blog.  This is the blog I am going to use to keep a record of my family.  This way, I can save some of the memories from my Family and share it with my kids at a future time. 

To start this tale, I must tell you how I met my wife and how and why we are together now.  I was in the Air Force reserves.  CJ was active duty AF.  I was stationed in Charleston SC.  She was in tech school.  She was in Texas for intel but was dropped from the class 3 weeks before graduation.  She was supposed to be going to Japan.  But since she was dropped, she lost the oderes and ended up at Keesler AFB.  I got a tech school for my job in the reserves and went to Keesler AFB.  See where this is going?


I was prior service and would normally not be able to hang out with her but we both got involved in the base chapel.  We met on a weekend retreat to Bay St Luois.  We stayed at a catholic monistary.  Really cool.  I thought she was the prettest girl there and she was fun.  She says she had an instant crush on me but figured we did not have a chance.  I found out she had a boyfriend.  Besides, I was really there for the time with God.  CJ was an unexpected pleasure to get to know.  Which I did.  We talked and laughed.  Played poker (she lost a million dollars of fake money to me!).  We walked and talked.  After the retreat, we started hanging out at the chapel building and got to know each other a bit.  I liked her.  She was someone I could fall in love with and marry.  But she had a boyfriend.  She thought that a great guy like me should be married by now and I was too "old" for her.  Her conclusion was that we did not have a chance.  But we enjoyed spending time together.

She came in one day and announced that she had broken up with her boyfriend.  I was glad to hear that!  But I did not want to just rush out and date her.  I gave her time (a couple of days).  Then I asked her to walk with me.  On the walk, I asked her out.  She said yes though I am sure she was so shocked and elated that she really could not tell you what she said!  I had a knack for rendering her speechless.  After 11+ years, I still do!


After all these years, we are still in love and we still have passion.  And thus the story begins......