Here's something you might be interested in.
we carry our stories around in well worn suitcases...the best ones are scarred on the corners and need a leather strap to continue to hold them together from often reopening to bring a tear or regal the crowd with laughter
here's one of mine
many years ago i had friend...he was a feisty old journalist who published the Rockaway Beach Bell Buoy....i would see him often on Main Street walking hand and hand with his wife Elaine....they were so happy to be together....he wasn't a kid anymore.....but she was a young one by comparison....a May/December thing that seemed to be working.......i had invited them to Rockaway....my husband and i were taking care of his stepfather there.....
i hoped my friend would be able to connect their cable radio station to Falcon Cable on the coast...and play behind the community calender
well that never panned out so he started the paper instead
this is the story Bill of he and Elaines tells meeting when we met him in Central Oregon
the explanation of the ole fellows love story with his younger wife....
when Bill met Elaine he was bartending at the VFW lodge in Lincoln City....he was a long term resident on the coast who had created and managed two midsized local papers....one in Depoe Bay....the Depoe Bay Foghorn.....and the Lincoln City Bell Buoy.....when his first wife had a stroke he had taken care of her for 10 years before she died....and lost the two newspapers he and his wife Olive created together in the process.....
as he made drinks behind the bar he was floundering......on the outside he was a cheerful fellow....on the inside he might as well been buried with Olive.....the love of his life....set in his heartscape as a bright "starry starry night"......a treasure he knew would be impossible to replace again in his lifetime.....
Elaine had epilepsy........and one day she had a Grand Mal seizure in the bar...... Bill rushed to her jerking body on the ground ....she wasn't drinking alcohol and only came in for cherry cokes....he turned her on her side 'til the jerking stopped and put her head in his lap and wiped the foam away from her lips....in that moment a father protector was born.....
he watched over her in the bar....took time off to see her home....and they just generally became best of friends....it lifted Bill's spirits to have someone to be kind to and connect with....Elaine was a cheerful little bird of a person....when she was with Bill he was always laughing about this or that funny thing he or she said.....
i would have PAID to watch them fall in love....
THAT'S A BIG STATEMENT FROM ME !!!!
but that never occurred to Bill....she was so young....30 years younger then he was....he had no intention of being labeled the "Old Letch" around town !!!!!!
Elaine told Bill how much she loved him over a bowl of Campbell's Tomato Soup....she could boil water....make coffee ...and make soup....her epilepsy had left her with some mental impairment....
she explained why she thought they were a perfect match.....Bill could cook....she couldn't....they had lots of fun together....he wasn't afraid of her epilepsy....he was a mature noble kind man who had honored and had been devoted to his life and love with his first wife ...
who Elaine had decided had made him the perfect man for her....NOW IF THAT ISN'T JUST A MIRACLE tell me one better !!!!!
Bill on the other hand was not completely won over....and so he took Elaine out to the sand and waved his arm across the starry sky......"this is my feeling for Olive Elaine....she is my night sky...every star that's there is her....see how filled it is .....I'm afraid there's no place there for you"
Elaine looked up and said...."yes Bill i can't be a star there.....but look....look....see the moon...i can be the moon "
she showed him the moon....and his universe revolved into a new orbit....one as filled with love as the previous orbit had been......
Van Gogh couldn't have painted a more moving picture for his admiriers then Elaine did for Bill
they will celebrate their 25th wedding anniversary this year
~~SIGH~~
we carry our stories around in well worn suitcases...the best ones are scarred on the corners and need a leather strap to continue to hold them together from often reopening to bring a tear or regal the crowd with laughter
here's one of mine
many years ago i had friend...he was a feisty old journalist who published the Rockaway Beach Bell Buoy....i would see him often on Main Street walking hand and hand with his wife Elaine....they were so happy to be together....he wasn't a kid anymore.....but she was a young one by comparison....a May/December thing that seemed to be working.......i had invited them to Rockaway....my husband and i were taking care of his stepfather there.....
i hoped my friend would be able to connect their cable radio station to Falcon Cable on the coast...and play behind the community calender
well that never panned out so he started the paper instead
this is the story Bill of he and Elaines tells meeting when we met him in Central Oregon
the explanation of the ole fellows love story with his younger wife....
when Bill met Elaine he was bartending at the VFW lodge in Lincoln City....he was a long term resident on the coast who had created and managed two midsized local papers....one in Depoe Bay....the Depoe Bay Foghorn.....and the Lincoln City Bell Buoy.....when his first wife had a stroke he had taken care of her for 10 years before she died....and lost the two newspapers he and his wife Olive created together in the process.....
as he made drinks behind the bar he was floundering......on the outside he was a cheerful fellow....on the inside he might as well been buried with Olive.....the love of his life....set in his heartscape as a bright "starry starry night"......a treasure he knew would be impossible to replace again in his lifetime.....
Elaine had epilepsy........and one day she had a Grand Mal seizure in the bar...... Bill rushed to her jerking body on the ground ....she wasn't drinking alcohol and only came in for cherry cokes....he turned her on her side 'til the jerking stopped and put her head in his lap and wiped the foam away from her lips....in that moment a father protector was born.....
he watched over her in the bar....took time off to see her home....and they just generally became best of friends....it lifted Bill's spirits to have someone to be kind to and connect with....Elaine was a cheerful little bird of a person....when she was with Bill he was always laughing about this or that funny thing he or she said.....
i would have PAID to watch them fall in love....
THAT'S A BIG STATEMENT FROM ME !!!!
but that never occurred to Bill....she was so young....30 years younger then he was....he had no intention of being labeled the "Old Letch" around town !!!!!!
Elaine told Bill how much she loved him over a bowl of Campbell's Tomato Soup....she could boil water....make coffee ...and make soup....her epilepsy had left her with some mental impairment....
she explained why she thought they were a perfect match.....Bill could cook....she couldn't....they had lots of fun together....he wasn't afraid of her epilepsy....he was a mature noble kind man who had honored and had been devoted to his life and love with his first wife ...
who Elaine had decided had made him the perfect man for her....NOW IF THAT ISN'T JUST A MIRACLE tell me one better !!!!!
Bill on the other hand was not completely won over....and so he took Elaine out to the sand and waved his arm across the starry sky......"this is my feeling for Olive Elaine....she is my night sky...every star that's there is her....see how filled it is .....I'm afraid there's no place there for you"
Elaine looked up and said...."yes Bill i can't be a star there.....but look....look....see the moon...i can be the moon "
she showed him the moon....and his universe revolved into a new orbit....one as filled with love as the previous orbit had been......
Van Gogh couldn't have painted a more moving picture for his admiriers then Elaine did for Bill
they will celebrate their 25th wedding anniversary this year
~~SIGH~~