In The Beginning

The year was 1969. Big things were in store that year. That Spring, in a borough of NYC, a family was preparing to welcome their second little boy into the world. He was going to be a dosey of a kid. In another part of the country, while astronauts were preparing to fly to the moon, a young couple was planning their wedding. The young lady had to finish high school of course, but it was decided that in July, they would travel from Tucson to Nevada on a long weekend and get hitched. It was a good year.

What does this have to do with anything? Well...it's the beginning, you know? The beginning of the impractical love story of me and my beloved Moose.

In the summer of '71, Moose's folks decided the city was too much for them and moved to El Paso. Along about '75, the young couple in Tucson welcomed their baby girl into the world. They loved their little tomboy to bits and as she grew up to sing her little heart out when she sang opera and played Annie in the grade school musicals. So there they were enjoying the Sonoran desert when just a couple states away....

Moose was on the loose. He was just finishing kindergarten when i was born. Growing up, he loved terrorising the neighbourhood with his brothers and childhood friends. He couldn't be too naughty (or atleast he had to be really sneaky about it), as his dad was a lawyer and well known deacon in the area lobbying for the rights of the unborn and immigrants. Taking long car trips with his family back east and to Washington to visit relatives. Enjoying baseball, honing his alter boy skills, and running with the track team. Then, before you know it, it was time for him to head to college. All the way to Lubbock. Lucky him. *grin*

Meanwhile, while he was in college, i was in middle school. Sadly, while he was having the first of his exams, i was probably digging around in the garbage bags from school looking for the retainer i threw away by accident. I was also learning algebra from a math teacher by the name of Mr. Grobelch. Now Mr. Grobelch was one cool dude. He was one of those teachers that would tell it like it was--there was no certificate of participation in his class. See, Mr. Grobelch had been privileged to teach a super basketball star that played at the local university and was instrumental in leading the team into the NCAA tournaments, so of course, Mr. G was all about every one of his students being the best so they could attend U of A too. You either did your work well, or he called you on the carpet--in front of everyone! One of his favourite sayings was "If you buy the farm (earn an "f"), you'll be going to Texas Tech below the deck." Little did i know....

Moose was off studying engineering at Texas Tech for 4 years. During this time, his family was hit with some devastating news. Their father had been diagnosed with cancer...again. He had beaten it once before, however this time the disease would claim his life. While Moose was travelling back and forth from Lubbock to El Paso during his final year of college, i was enjoying my junior year in high school. And as the reality of his father's passing hit him, Moose knew he wanted to leave Texas as soon as he could!

About the time he was driving through Tucson on I-10, a mere 3 miles from my house, to relocate to Washington, i was getting ready to leave for Germany as an exchange student...

How would our paths ever meet at this rate???

Stay tuned for the next installment of The Impractical Love Story of Me and My Moose.