Train that left the Station

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Backstory – Train that left the Station

This story was a delight to write, because it is MY story, our story, his story.  Bill and I met when I invited him to join the Rotary Club, an international service organization. Their motto is Service Above Self.  He was attending a business expo.  The local Rotary Club was one of the vendors and it was my time to man the booth.

We were friends for years after that, each of us committed elsewhere.  Then things changed and we began to pay more attention to each other.  The Club sent us on a mission and we got to know each other better, spending nearly a week together for most of the day.

It was like a wave of feeling kept coming over us.  This wonderful sense of delight in each other’s company.  People started to notice, and mention it. We began paying closer attention.  Finally, it seemed inevitable.

This week’s story tells Bill’s side of our story.

Consider This Show – Train that left the Station

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He had been a bachelor for more than 60 years. He was attractive, intelligent, financially secure, funny, interesting. He was what would be considered quite a catch for a woman of his day. He had a full and successful life with a career in a field he loved, lots of friends and loving family.

And yet romance had alluded him. He never found the time . . . or took the time . . . to look past the casual, to find a woman who could hold his attention and fill the void. After so many decades of a solitary life, he explained, he assumed that train had left the station. Fatherhood was not to be.  Intimacy was not to be experienced.

And then she came into his life.  Bustling and busy, bright and joyful. They became friends and enjoyed spending time together. They started doing for each other, and going places together. They started dating. And it all fell together so naturally, so happily.

A couple of years and they realized they wanted more and they got engaged. They’re now approaching 3,000 days together.  He’s counted them.

How do I know? I am the train that pulled into his station.  Big red caboose and all.

[Show #629]