Blind Date = My Fate

1988

BC and I have been married 24 years.  As he calls me, his FIRST wife…

We met on a blind date.  Now, at 26, I was pretty fabulous and really didn’t go out on blind dates. I had guys at my doorstep pretty much all the time. COUGH COUGH.  But it WAS a Friday night, I WAS bored, and figured I’d meet this fly boy for the purpose of him buying me drinks and having some fun.

He was fresh out of the Air Force and a new hire at a major airline.  He was also pretty good-looking so I figured-hey, he’s employed, not fat, and educated.  The fact that he was a pilot was kind of a deal killer.  I have a cousin who was a Navy pilot and let me tell you how those guys can party!  If anyone could drink me under a table it was my cousin.  He was also responsible for me having outrageous hang overs at all of his sister’s weddings. 25 plus years later he still likes to remind me at family gatherings.

This was the second guy I had met that did exactly what he said he was going to do.  Case in point:  He said that he would call me the next day.  I’d heard THAT before. And this was after a night of serious drinking, smoking and telling dirty jokes on my part.  So the next day I was in the shower and my roommate yelled in to my bathroom, “Hey, you know that guy you met last night-he just called.”

REALLLLLLYYYYY???

Our first date was to see the movie Revenge of the Nerds. Seriously.  And then he showed me his video of him flying a fighter jet.  In a flight suit. With the Top Gun sound track in the background.  I was done….

Four months after we met, we were engaged.  We were married a year and a week of our first date.  And, as far as I know, he has ALWAYS done what he said he was going to do.  Well except for finishing hanging the shutters on the front of the house.  And finish installing the hardwoods upstairs in our home.  And cleaning up the basement (AKA Man Cave..).

But I digress.

We’ve been married 24 years.  And it hasn’t always been easy.  I can be a handful sometimes. But, I found the secret to a happy marriage–TRAVEL!

Yes, we get to fly for free anywhere in the world.  And we have really enjoyed that. But for a marriage to be successful, I really believe that the fact that he is gone about 2-3 nights a week has kept us from killing each other. And my mom’s sage advice-if he ain’t horny, make him a sandwich!

Many pilots are on 2nd and 3rd wives.  Yep-it’s hard knowing he is out in Paris having bread and wine with the crew on the lawn in front of the Eiffel Tower.  Or enjoying the sites at the nude beach in Rio. Or climbing the steps to the Acropolis in Greece.  Or navigating the vineyards in South Africa. Many wives are intensely jealous of that part of the job.  Get over it-they are also dealing with passengers, management, cranky flight attendants, jet lag and bed bugs.

For me, there’s the freedom to have popcorn for dinner.  To meet a group of girlfriends and slam some martinis.  Or skip off on my passes to visit a girlfriend in LA.  In fact, he encourages it.

BC is also my polar opposite.  My wing man at the neighborhood parties.  He knows when to get me out of a party when he sees me looking for a cigarette or I jump on stage with the band.  He hates rap, disco, and my love of  Madonna. The only time he has EVER danced was at my wedding.  He is frugal.  He still wears t-shirts that he had in college.  He does his own laundry.  He loves leftovers.  The dishwasher has to be FULL before I start it. He’s too cheap to cheat.

His ethics are impeccable.  When we were first married, we were grocery shopping and had a bag of pretzels in the cart.  Me, being hungry, opens the bag and grabs a handful. I thought he was going to have a stroke right there:

BC:  You are NOT going to eat that right here???????

Me:  Yep-I am hungry!

BC:  But, we haven’t PAID for those yet!!!!!!

Me:  But, we WILL…(big eye roll on my part)

He doesn’t always get my logic.  But that’s what makes it work.  Besides, if I had married myself, we’d be in a one bedroom apartment with outrageous credit card debt, and great designer handbag , driving a luxury automobile and wishing I was in a house.

BC & 17

He has seen me at my worst and my best.  He has encouraged me every time I think of a new scheme to make extra money.  He then rolls his eyes-here we go again…But I put up with the polyester uniform, clip-on tie, the sexy black earth shoes, and his penchant for airport Chinese food. It is true love.

And he’s on a trip today.  The dishwasher is not full.  So I’m cranking that baby right up!

Muwahahahaha

This post was inspired yet again by my ladies at GenFab – our assignment this week on our blog hop was How we first met our husbands or significant other – Join us and check the rest of these gals out-we are FAB!

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