I am getting ready for church that next Sunday morning when
Maddie calls me. Maddie has called to
tell me that Jay’s Chihuahua has died overnight from a spider bite. “Oh My God!
Is he okay??? Do we need to go
and see him?” I say. Maddie and I decide
to go and see him after church. We will
pick him up a sympathy card somewhere along the way. In church I talk to a friend of mine in my
Sunday School Class, about maybe going out with Jay and she decides to meet
him.
Maddie and I go to Albertsons, where Jay works, after
church. I give him the card and he
starts to cry. I didn’t know until then
what an animal lover Jay was. When I saw
how soft his heart was I knew that I wanted to be with him. He may
not be my usual kind of guy, but he may be the kind of guy I really need.
That night I go home and run Jay and I’s astrology
charts. I find out that we are VERY well
matched. I am a Pisces and he is a
Leo. In the Chinese Zodiac he is a horse
and I am a dragon. I have always
believed in astrology. I feel my parents
have a good marriage because they are well matched astrologically. I think that may have been part of Mike and
I’s problems. In the Chinese Zodiac he
was a tiger and I am a dragon. So if you
think of a tiger and a dragon living in the same house, they are always fighting. He was an Aquarius and I am Pisces. While Aquarius is an air sign it is the water
bearer. To me, what that meant, was I
lived in the water he brought me, and it was toxic. I think then that I may be very wrong about
Jay. That he and I might do well
together. All the clues are pointing out
this may be a very good match for me.
That he really is a good guy. I
need to give him another shot, spark or not.
Maddie, Jay, my
friend and I go out to get some pizza later that week. We are sitting there at the table watching
TV. Jay’s back is to the TV. Basketball is on. Now my ex husband ate, slept and breathed
sports of all types. Most men I know
love sports of some kind. They are
obsessed to some degree. I’ve even seen
LSU t-shirts around here that read, “Love Jesus, Love the Tigers.” And it’s
usually in that order around here, Jesus and then football, everything else is
a distant third. So I figure Jay is no
different. I want to show him that I can
hang with that ideal. So I start fanning
interest in what is going on with the Basketball game on TV.
“What are you watching?” he asks
“Basketball. What teams
do you like?” I say.
“I’m not much into sports.
I never have been.” My heart
skipped a beat. I think, “What? You mean I don’t have to pretend to like
sports anymore? I mean with you?” I’m starting to think I want this feller more
and more. That I might get the luxury of
being completely myself around him, and not have to change who I am to get his
love.
After dinner Jay invites us to his house for drinks and to
chill. He makes us frozen margaritas. He
says he wants to show us his room.
He gives us the tour
and explains, “The wall over my computer is a little empty right now because
this is where I keep my black powder gun, that my uncle Mack made for me. But it’s in the shop right now. It’s
got a ball stuck in it.”
Now I know that there is only one man threw these woods that
I know of who makes black powder riffles, and his name is Mack Colvin. “Mack who?” I ask.
“Mack Colvin,” he says.
“The hell you say!
How the hell do you know Mack Colvin???”
I ask angrily. It just can’t
be. They have found out I know Mack and
they are playing a trick on me. I know
they are.
“He’s my uncle.” Jay says.
“He’s got a daughter named Rachael?” I ask.
“No his daughters name Dawn.” He says.
I go on to describe Rachael in detail, her husband and what
he does, and their daughter. He says yes
it is all true but the name is wrong. He
says he will be right back. He goes into
his mom’s room and confers with her on the name. He returns to tell me that Rachael is Dawns’
legal name. But the family has always
called her by Dawn, her middle name. We
are talking about the same family.
I sank into the pink chair behind me. I am shaking.
I can’t speak. The stars have
aligned and I am going to marry this man.
When I can finally speak I tell them the story of me and Rachael.
“Five years ago I attended the Natchitoches Folk
Festival. I was interested in learning
to tat. I met Rachael there, selling her
tatting wares. I told her I wanted to
learn. She said pull up a chair. I sat with Rachael and her family for two
days and learned to tat. Rachael sends
me patterns and I do them for her. I
send them back and she critiques them.
I’ve know Rachael, her husband, her daughter, her mother and her father
Mack Colvin for five years. They are
good friends of mine.” No one can speak
for a few minutes. I explain I thought
they were trying to play a trick on me.
It’s all there. The
signs are all there. He’s a gentlemen,
he has impeccable manners, he loves books, he loves animals, my animals like
him, he comes from a good, loving, and well respected family and he’s cute to
boot. I go home that night and email
Rachael. I tell her about Jay and can
she please vouch for his character. She
responds the next morning that she never thought to put us together. She tells me what a good man Jay is and that
when he was little they practically raised him.
Jay is my catch. He
is for me. It’s a little over a week since
I met him and I already know in my heart that I will spend the rest of my life
with this man. The idea of giving him
away fades. He’s mine now, and I could
not be happier.
December 29th, 2002 we decide to throw a dinner
party at my parent’s house. In
attendance will be Jay, Maddie, the friend I tried to pass Jay off on and a guy
friend of hers, me and my parents. Mom
starts to not feel well. I ask Jay if he
will take her up to my aunt’s house, who is a nurse, to have Mom’s blood
pressure checked. He says sure. I feel I cannot leave my father with people
he does not know and in the middle of trying to prep for dinner. When he returned a little bit later with her,
I knew I could trust him.
Jay goes on to grill us a lovely meal. We all have a good time. My friend and her
guy friend have left. After everything
is cleaned up Jay and Maddie go to leave, as they came in the same car. Maddie goes to sit in the car. It was late and the moon was full and shining
brightly high over our heads. I could
see it peaking threw our massive old pecan tree from where I was standing. Jay and I go to say goodbye, he hugged me and
then he kissed me. We hadn’t even held
hands yet, that’s what I was hoping for but WOW! My knees went weak. I thought I would faint. Damn could he kiss! I’d never been kissed like that. I was dizzy.
I saw stars. My leg did that
funny curl thing, and my toes curled.
When I opened my eyes I could not have imagined a more perfect place for
a first kiss, with the moon shining down on us.
Forget waiting for a spark those were fireworks baby!
Ilsa
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