220419 Sentinel, My best years

I think my best years were the sixties.
There was more change and excitement than any other decade for me.

This was my official navy ID picture from boot camp in September of 1963. I was not allowed to smile.

In 1960 I met Sherry, my first love. She was almost as beautiful as Joyce. She always turned heads as Joyce did. Unfortunately she left me for some farmer boy who married her and took her away from her bad situation with her step father. I understood why she left me and had no fault with her over that. Their marriage was not a good one, but I don’t know what became of her after that time.
1961 I met Debbie, she was as hot as a firecracker! Debbie was a strange one, but fun to be with. I would see her every morning as she passed by my house going to her bus stop. Our dates were filled with puppy love. We were together until I met Joyce in June of 1963, when my life changed forever.
Joyce was the most beautiful young woman I ever met then and now. Debbie and I parted our way a week later and from then on it was Joyce who was the love of my life from then on. Joyce was like no one I ever met. She was not an easy catch and difficult to hold on to in our first few weeks. If I was more than 5 minutes late for our date, She was gone with her girlfriends for the evening. I was working and that was why I was late, but Joyce didn’t care, she went out without me. Not long after we met my car kept overheating and I was 2 weeks getting it repaired. I didn’t call her to let her know and she was not in a mood to ever see me again. It was my fault and it took some work to get her to speak to me again.
As I was trying to get back together, (I was a bit of a charmer and her mother liked me) I went to her home early one morning. Her mother called Joyce and said I was there to see her. Joyce came out in her pajamas, thinking it was just her mother’s way of waking her up. She saw me and then fled back to her room to change into more appropriate clothing. We started dating again
After 2 or 3 dates I made my move to get very close to her and failed. On our way to her home, just a block away, Joyce said, “ I know what you want and it’s not going to happen.” That was the turning point for me, I was hooked forever. I knew she was the one for me. We were married 6 months later in January of 1964 after I was just 4 months in the navy. We lived on not much income at all, but love conquers all and we made it work. We had nothing beyond love and that was enough.
Later in 64 I was sent to Hawaii for further training and then on to Guam. By the time I got there I had 1 more year before transfer. There was little housing for married couples and the waiting list was more than 6 months of the 12 months I was there. We didn’t have the money to move there anyway.
I returned in late 1965 and bought a car so we could move to San Diego. Everything we owned fit into a little Chevy Corvair and off we went.

Once we got there life was wonderful! The sixties in California were golden. It was a wonderful place to be then, not like it is today. We were there for 2 cruises on the Kitty Hawk and Annie’s birth. It was magical. In '68 I re-enlisted in the navy and we went to the naval air training center for my advanced aviation electronics training and I stayed there as an instructor for 3.5 more years, before being transferred to the USS Enterprise where I was a shop supervisor for the radio and navigation equipment shop for all of the ship’s aircraft.
And so ended the sixties for us both. Love followed until Joyce passed away in September of 2021. She is still my love now and forever. I see her in my dreams every night.