210630 Sentinel, Encounters

Chance Encounters, one life changing, others most pleasant

Some younger folks may not know what a drive-in movie was, but we older people sure do.

One chance encounter that changed my life, was meeting Joyce. We were born and raised in the same area, went to the same places even had some of the same friends, but while our paths crossed many times we had never seen each other until one fateful night. I had worked late at the service station, didn’t have a date with my usual Saturday girl. I called all of my usual friends but they were already out and about, except for one. I said, “Let’s go see a movie at the drive-in.” He wasn’t doing anything so we left to watch a movie. That night, (the only night ever) that the drive-in was packed with cars. There was only one parking spot available. I parked the car, put the speaker in my window and looked around. The car on the right side of me had the most gorgeous young woman I had ever seen. I pondered the situation for some time and came to a conclusion. I knew I was not a witty pick-up artist, but I had to meet this woman. The only thing I thought of was to walk over to her car, open the door and tell her to slide over on the seat so we could talk. It was a far bolder thing than I had ever even contemplated or done, but it worked. It could have gone horribly wrong, but here we are 57 years later. Sometimes when a person is far from sure of an outcome, the best thing to do is be bold and charge right into the situation. You can only expect one of two options, win or lose. If the potential reward is great enough, you have to take the risk.

About two years ago Joyce and I were in an Oklahoma casino playing cards. I had my USS KItty Hawk cap on and this lovely woman named Eleanor was walking by and stopped to thank me for my service. I was somewhat surprised by that. We spoke briefly and I found out she was from Texas. She had just a brief stop in Oklahoma and was killing time there. We have corresponded ever since. She reads all of my blog posts. What are the odds of her being a Texan and we being Missourians meeting in Oklahoma and becoming fast friends?

During my navy years, I received orders to the island of Guam. The only person who I knew that knew anything about Guam was my uncle Kenny and he knew because he was in the marine force that re-took Guam in WW-2. Decades later I was serving on a jury and during our lunch hour a woman sat next to me and said, “You used to be in the navy, didn’t you?” I was taken aback, but I did say yes I was in the navy. She answered with, “I can always spot a sailor.” She then asked if I was ever on Guam. I looked at her, wondering how that question would ever come up in conversation. She told me she was there as a young girl when her father was stationed there. It turned out we were there during the same time frame, were at the same outdoor movie theater, (there was only one on base.) The odds against that encounter ever happening must be astronomical.