|
This is what started UsForever, again.
|
Truth sometimes is stranger than fiction. (Except the names; they're fiction.)
I sent the following e-mail message on May 26, 1998.
I have a serious question to ask.
Are you the Gloria Jones who, from Christmas 1962 to June 1964, had a friend at Redstone Arsenal named Jerry Kendall?
I will be most grateful if you answer, but, of course, will understand if you don't.
Thanks for listening, and I apologize for any intrusion.
Jerome (Jerry) Kendall
The first time I saw Gloria was December 14, 1962 at a Christmas dance given by the military dependant "teen" club at Redstone Arsenal, Huntsville, Alabama.. I was 15, she was 14. She was the most beautiful girl I had ever seen. As scared as I was, (I didn't show it, of course. I was cool.) I asked her to dance. She said yes.
She felt just right in my arms, like we were made for each other. We kissed under the mistletoe and fell hopelessly in love. I don't think my feet touched the ground all night.
I was in heaven. That was 36 years ago, tonight.
Heaven lasted about a year and a half.
The Army transferred my dad to Alaska. Nearly 5000 miles. I didn't want to leave Gloria, but neither of us had much say in the matter. (This was long before home PCs, e-mail and "Instant Messaging" you understand.)
We lost touch. Our lives went on, but not with each other. During this time we both married, had children, moved around, and divorced.
I had occasion to visit Huntsville many times. I looked for Gloria, but never found her. I talked to her dad once in 1990. He never told her I was in town then. A father loves and protects his daughter, no matter what.
I was surfing the Internet on that fateful morning of May 26. I came across a search engine with the intriguing heading of "Find Old Friends". It had inputs for name, including maiden name, city, state and high school. I don't know why, other than I knew I was still in love with Gloria after all these years, I submitted what I knew to the search.
In less than a minute I had an e-mail address that could only have been her!! I sent the message and...SHE ANSWERED. It really was Gloria. She was just as surprised as I was. Even more so. At least eight years earlier, I had known from her dad that she was alive and well. She never knew what happened to me.
We traded e-mail and our stories for a couple of weeks and then both got instant messaging software. We were able to "talk" to each other every day. Some days we stayed "on-line" for hours, even at 2 or 3 or 5 AM. We talked about everything. We learned everything about each other that two people can learn, without being together.
We fell in love all over again. It was as if we had never been apart. There were so many ways we were alike. What could we do? I was in Seattle, she was in Huntsville.
On June 26, only one month after we found each other again, I made a decision. I was moving to Huntsville.
When I told Gloria, again in our "private chatroom", she asked if I was sure. I told her I didn't want to be sitting here next year and saying "I wish I would have done that." My lease was up the end of July, my job was one I could leave anytime I wanted, I had nothing to keep me there.
I arrived here at 9:30PM, July 30, set up my computer and "talked" to Gloria for almost two hours. We set a time and place for us to meet the next day.
We met in person at noon, August 1. I was so scared, just like I was that 15 year old boy again. It was love at first sight. Again. She is still the most beautiful girl, woman, I have ever seen. I knew instantly I'd made the right decision.
We've been together since I arrived and have promised to never leave each other, ever. In some ways, we're brand new together, but in other ways, we've never been apart. She takes my breath away, every time I look at her. I'm so lucky.
I'm also so grateful for the Internet and e-mail. If it wasn't for computers, we would never have found each other. Somewhere deep inside, love would have never been fulfilled.
Fate has a way of working things out for the best, if you truly believe. Gloria and I are proof of that.
The following are pictures and progress of our new house.
In the meantime why not check out the link below to get your own 20MB of free webspace?
www.fortunecity.com
|
|
|
|
