Friday, December 16, 2005
APRIL....2001
After deciding to get married, Rocky and I both had a lot of loose ends to finish before we could start thinking of marriage. He had a farm and animals to think of on the West side of the State……I had to get my small home ready for another person. In the four years I was widowed, the house slowly became very feminine and a big ole guy like Rocky looked strange in those surroundings.
He had stabilized things at the farm enough that he could continue his trucking and at the time was hauling plastic pipe out of Pittsburg, KS. He asked me to go on a short “run” with him down to Brisco, MO. which is over in the “boot heel.” I drove out to the truck stop and waited for him to arrive from Pittsburg……it was fun being in a big “rig” like his Freightliner to see what life is like from inside the cab. After all the hundreds of CDL license’s I had written up in my DE job it seemed odd to actually be in one. Of course, everything about being with Rocky then seemed hard to believe.
We ran into a bad wreck on our drive into Poplar Bluff which delayed us somewhat. When we got to our drop place Rocky had to find out where and when he could unload, there was quite a bit of waiting and discussing…..all part of a trucker’s life. I was beginning to see it wasn’t all that glamorous and certainly not tailor made to accommodate the trucker. An old hand like Rocky had learned patience and how to work the system he worked under so we were unloaded and headed for something to eat before driving back.
I enjoyed the vantage point you have in the cab of a truck. One thing I didn’t like was the noise inside the truck. Rocky had an old truck which was devoid of any creature comforts so we had to yell at each other the whole time and as I remember, the heater wasn’t that great, either. Rocky was oblivious to any discomfort…..he had spent his life behind the wheel and with the dinosaurs he drove over the years, this was a Cadillac as far as he was concerned. Rocky didn’t require much in the way of “extras” and was used to “making do” when problems came up. I thought he was amazing. This man was content with so very little.
When we got back to the truck stop I brought him home for some heated up leftovers and after eating, took him back to his Freightliner so he could drive on to Neosho. He called later to let me know he arrived safely. That night I had lots to think about…..I made up my mind he was going to have a lot more consideration than he was even willing to give himself. This man needed a wife!! I’m glad it was going to be me.
We had been trying to settle on a date. Rocky didn’t think it looked good to be married so soon after Mary died and I didn’t want to be married in May because of Mother’s Day and my birthday in the same month. I didn’t want to be married in June because that was when Bear and I married and so it was either July or later. In the final analysis we decided to throw caution to the wind and get married the last day of April. We knew we wanted to be together and at our age, why wait? Also, Rocky was spending a fortune on long distance or cell-phone calls….it seemed practical to just do it. So on April 30th Rocky and I drove to Eureka Springs, AR., found the City Hall for our marriage license and drove to the Chapel of the Angels to be married.
The drive to Eureka Springs was beautiful. The rugged, rough beauty of the deep Ozarks is soul food for the eyes. Just Rocky and me together after all those years…. on a drive to be married. The whole thing was surreal…… two kids from high school who never ever forgot each other or ever gave up on the dream of being together….somehow…. somewhere…..someday……..this was the moment.
Until next time,
Essentially Esther
He had stabilized things at the farm enough that he could continue his trucking and at the time was hauling plastic pipe out of Pittsburg, KS. He asked me to go on a short “run” with him down to Brisco, MO. which is over in the “boot heel.” I drove out to the truck stop and waited for him to arrive from Pittsburg……it was fun being in a big “rig” like his Freightliner to see what life is like from inside the cab. After all the hundreds of CDL license’s I had written up in my DE job it seemed odd to actually be in one. Of course, everything about being with Rocky then seemed hard to believe.
We ran into a bad wreck on our drive into Poplar Bluff which delayed us somewhat. When we got to our drop place Rocky had to find out where and when he could unload, there was quite a bit of waiting and discussing…..all part of a trucker’s life. I was beginning to see it wasn’t all that glamorous and certainly not tailor made to accommodate the trucker. An old hand like Rocky had learned patience and how to work the system he worked under so we were unloaded and headed for something to eat before driving back.
I enjoyed the vantage point you have in the cab of a truck. One thing I didn’t like was the noise inside the truck. Rocky had an old truck which was devoid of any creature comforts so we had to yell at each other the whole time and as I remember, the heater wasn’t that great, either. Rocky was oblivious to any discomfort…..he had spent his life behind the wheel and with the dinosaurs he drove over the years, this was a Cadillac as far as he was concerned. Rocky didn’t require much in the way of “extras” and was used to “making do” when problems came up. I thought he was amazing. This man was content with so very little.
When we got back to the truck stop I brought him home for some heated up leftovers and after eating, took him back to his Freightliner so he could drive on to Neosho. He called later to let me know he arrived safely. That night I had lots to think about…..I made up my mind he was going to have a lot more consideration than he was even willing to give himself. This man needed a wife!! I’m glad it was going to be me.
We had been trying to settle on a date. Rocky didn’t think it looked good to be married so soon after Mary died and I didn’t want to be married in May because of Mother’s Day and my birthday in the same month. I didn’t want to be married in June because that was when Bear and I married and so it was either July or later. In the final analysis we decided to throw caution to the wind and get married the last day of April. We knew we wanted to be together and at our age, why wait? Also, Rocky was spending a fortune on long distance or cell-phone calls….it seemed practical to just do it. So on April 30th Rocky and I drove to Eureka Springs, AR., found the City Hall for our marriage license and drove to the Chapel of the Angels to be married.
The drive to Eureka Springs was beautiful. The rugged, rough beauty of the deep Ozarks is soul food for the eyes. Just Rocky and me together after all those years…. on a drive to be married. The whole thing was surreal…… two kids from high school who never ever forgot each other or ever gave up on the dream of being together….somehow…. somewhere…..someday……..this was the moment.
Until next time,
Essentially Esther
