My Husband the Chick Magnet

Today was a day in three parts. The first part was the part I had all the anxiety about. Anxiety is not something I normally struggle with. When enough bad things have happened to you, I find that you tend to be mostly fearless, because most of the things you feared have already occurred. But I was very nervous about this morning.

I had arranged to meet up with someone, a woman with whom I have something of a shared history. That is, we attended the same institution at the same time and we even met once—which she remembers and I don’t. She contacted me a few weeks ago after reading my blog entry about my friend Matt, whom she also knew. We emailed back and forth several times, and when it came out that I’d be in the area this week, we agreed to meet.

So I drove back over to Duluth (where Spencer lives) to the coffee shop I’d selected because they also served tea. Kathleen was there to meet me, and had brought her husband along for moral support. She had a scrapbook full of photos from her college years.

It was easier than I thought to connect with her after so many years. That particular year that we were both at the same school was difficult for both of us in different ways. We both left at the end of our freshman year and shook the dust of that place off our feet.

We talked for two hours and I kind of hogged the conversation which I feel terrible about, but that’s what happens when I’m fueled up on adrenaline and caffeine.

I think if we lived closer together we could be friends.

However, there was (as I feared) considerable emotional fallout from that conversation. I struggled for the rest of the day. I rarely revisit that dark time in my life and when I do, it’s difficult to recover from.

Eventually, we said our goodbyes and then I returned to the house to pick up a rather grumpy husband who had had nothing to do all morning. We stopped to fill up the gas tank on the way to Stone Mountain, noticing with dismay that the gas prices had jumped 22 cents a gallon overnight.

We didn’t make it to my mother-in-law’s place until after 1:00. I made myself a quick lunch and then did some reading interspersed with walking, while Walter worked on trying to solve a ceiling fan problem for his sister. The weather had turned colder and very windy.

At 3:30 we got into the car and headed to Athens, a drive of an hour and a half. Sammy’s brother Joel lives there with his wife and four (soon to be five) children. It was a lovely and peaceful drive past many spectacular blooming Bradford pears.

Three very excited and boisterous little boys greeted us at the door. And moments later, we go to meet their little sister for the first time—she’s a year and a half old now.

What a delight it was to spend time with this active young family. Joel and his wife Natalya had prepared a wonderful meal. Carrying on a conversation was difficult at times, but the kids’ antics were also very entertaining.

Little Miah was very taken with Walter. You see, my husband has an “everyday” personality that he uses most of the time. But when he’s around little girls or young women, he switches on a massively upgraded super-charming persona which girls find irresistible. I am invisible once this feature is switched on.

It works particularly well on our granddaughters, but it seems to work on any girl from babyhood up through college age at least. He certainly won this little girl’s heart tonight.

We said our goodbyes shortly after the kids went to bed, as we had an hour’s drive ahead of us. Even though it was late, I still had to have my evening tea.

Parting Shot:

Joel and Natalya and their lovely family.