9/19/12

How Did You Meet?
By Sarah Lye


57 Years Ago

On a school trip to the beach, a couple of the boys had decided to pick on me. I didn’t understand what I had done to upset them, but clearly they had quite a big problem if they felt that something needed to be done about it. One of the boys just called me names behind my back, another would put sand down the back of my chair, but the one that upset me was the third, he waited until I was in a sand sinkhole and then he’d unplugged the engine of my wheelchair.

The rest of the class had started to move away, I tried calling them but they were too far away to hear me. I would have been stuck there all day if it wasn’t for a little girl from my class noticing me.

“Are you alright?” she’d said to me. For some reason the fact that this stranger cared more about me than everyone in my life, brought tears to my eyes. I’d tried to blink them away but there was no use. She’d seen them, but instead of running away she just hugged me.

“There seems to be a cable not attached.”

She’d plugged the cable back into the engine and tried to brush the sand off of me as best as she could. She’d gotten most of it off.

Once we’d caught up with the rest of our class it was time to have our lunch. The girl left her friends so that she could sit with me.

“I’m Jess” she had extended her empty hand to me. I took it and gave a weak hand shake and a slight smile.

“John” I’d replied.

Today

People always ask me ‘How did we meet.’ My answer is the story I’ve just told you. Jess has been there for me ever since that day. Just seven years after we first met, a week after Jess’ sixteenth birthday to be precise I’d asked her to marry me. And here we are today 50 years of marriage and watching our last grandchild get married. A tear formed in the corner of my eye.

“Are you alright?” Jess asked with her hand wrapping around mine.


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