A Journey to Spirit #15: Robert

I was thirty six. It was July, 1987.

It was an unusually warm night and I remember the sweet soft breeze that followed me around that summer like it was yesterday. Liz, a long-time family friend, invited me to join her with a couple of other friends at the annual County Fair Dance. And she wanted to show off her new guy.

We were to meet Liz at his house. She told me she’d known him for years, and apparently he was a long-time resident of the area. I was happy for her. As I’ve said before, the love-casualties in my past were many. I’d already been married twice, unsuccessfully of course, and the long history of bad relationships stretched behind me like an ugly logging road full of potholes, tight corners and giant boulders.

When I walked into his place, Liz met me at the door. She was beaming. We entered the kitchen and Ann, my sister, Jack and Darlene, neighbours of Robert’s, were already there. Introductions were made as Liz informed us that ‘he’ was just getting cleaned up. Ten minutes later, he entered the room. From across the room, the air suddenly became charged with some kind of cosmic eternal energy.

As we settled in with a drink, Robert and Jack started telling stories, with great little one-liners, and the table itself started laughing. Have you ever been somewhere where the laughter was so hard that you couldn’t catch your breath? This was just such a place. Of course I could never repeat the incredible banter that ensued that night, but I do recall how my sides hurt. These people, Robert, Jack and his wife Darlene, obviously had spent many great times together and the stories of fishing and diving, their antics and kidding around had become the stuff of a great repertoire.

We drove out together and when we arrived at the dance, I left the group and made my way over to a table of relatives and friends to make small talk and get away from the temptation. I really didn’t want to be any further enamoured with the likes of him because my friend made it quite clear to stay away. Even with this firmly in my mind however, I have to admit there was something really sumptuous in the air.

About then minutes later, I heard a voice over my right shoulder. “Can I buy you a drink?” My heart stopped for a moment as I turned. In my head popped, “White Horse, Prince, magic, music. Where’s my damn dress? Can I even speak? And the next thing I knew we were dancing. I felt awkward but only until he whispered in my ear that he had no fancy imaginings about Liz.

We danced. We mingled. We laughed. We played the cheeky game of cat and mouse but we hardly lost sight of each other the whole night. He drove everyone back to his place in his lumbering old Ford truck and I sat two away from him to avoid the daggers from Liz. I had no idea how I would smooth it over with Liz because I was clearly under his influence by then. When we arrived back at his house, everyone said goodnight and headed in a separate direction, including Liz. Then…the dust settled and the silence came. We were alone.

The next thing I knew we were back in the truck. We found ourselves at Cameron Lake. It was secluded and quiet and the inky night sky was filled with tiny white lights. He laid out a quilt on the sand and we sat down. When it happened it was one of those moments that will travel with me to the end of time. I’d been kissed lots before, but never like that. His lips were full and soft and he eased so slowly into the kiss as if we had all the time in the world. The kiss was soft and warm, gentle and hot, sultry and electric, deep then full…I could go on, but you get the picture.

He had a reputation with the women of course and I had been summarily warned…a couple of times already. I went to my thinking beach the next day alone, and thought long and hard about what had happened and how I was feeling. Could I take the chance on love with a playboy? Would he, could he, fall for me? But… it was already too late.

The only question that remained was how far would I fall? I didn’t know back then, but I would never return from the depth of my love for him. There was something very unusual about the connection we had and how suddenly everything happened. I couldn’t quite put my finger on it in the beginning but I assumed it had something to do with being soul mates. That day, staring out at the ocean, still high in a stupor of pheromones I made a conscious decision to trust the power of love.

…to be continued

Photo Credits

Horses – Jeanne Provost @ 123rf Stock Photos

Blue Moon – Markus Gann @ 123rf Stock Photos

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