7/11/21: That date rings pleasantly in my ears. It makes me think of a Vegas game, and I hit the jackpot! The odds were in my favor & that day signified the best one of my life. It was when I met Ruth. I'll give you my recollection of the events that occurred to the best of my memory.

It was the age of dating apps and Ruth & I were a couple of suckers that found ourselves caught up in the mix. Swipe after swipe and Ruth's beautiful smiling face popped up on my phone. It was a match! Without hesitation I unveiled my natural charm and secured a first date. Unbeknownst to us both we were about to close one door & open another. It was a new chapter in our lives that we started that day.

It was in the midst of a pandemic and I had set up the date for a Sunday afternoon in Ocean Beach, CA. The streets were as vacant as an old western movie just before a showdown. There was even a dry ball of seaweed tumbling past the vacant stores that were normally filled with tourists and hippies alike. I flashed my I.D. to the bouncer then strolled into the Sunshine Saloon as I had many times before.

With very few people around I took notice of this woman sitting at the bar. She was wearing a granny dress that reminded me of Mrs. Doubtfire. I noticed that she had a cast on her foot as well. As I sat down a few stools away, I glanced over and thought "is that Ruth?" & "why is she dressed like it's 1957?"

It would be a miraculous feat to remember what we talked about the first time together. My memory collects that I swooned her right away; I swept her off that pedestal & I flew her to the moon & back while she marveled upon my good manners & exquisite sense of humor. The truth was more along the lines of that I was mumbling & fidgeting around in a desperate attempt to say something engaging, and I must have because she stayed and laughed with me.

It turned into a bar-hopping kind of evening from there and we had some real fun. We shot some games of pool, we threw some darts, and we played foosball. I introduced her to the one of a kind peanut butter whiskey shots at The Holding Company. A shot so delicious she learned the recipe and makes them to this day.

The sun started its descent into the Pacific. It was a thing of beauty. I saw no better way to end the date than with a sunset kiss on the sand. Unfortunately, the cast on her foot was not made for sandy conditions. Fortunately, I am made for piggybacks. I am so good at them that I give them to this day. Her arms and legs wrapped around me as we headed off the boardwalk. Suddenly, a gust of wind made light work of her long outdated dress as it wrapped around her head. Anyone that was behind us had seen what I had not. We laughed it off as I tracked her through to an open spot in the sand.

As we wrapped up our day's adventures in the sand, we communicated with no restraint. I believe that while we lay down there on the beach, we connected on a level some may never know. We were free, willing, and able. We were ourselves. I'll never forget that day. The day that a stranger changed my life for the best. What it has developed into. I am blessed. I am lucky beyond any doubt. I am in love with Ruth.

Registry