The First Date

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This is one of those long flashback posts that I have posted parts of previously. I always find myself amazed at how the smallest things can change the course of a life. There are so many tiny events that must have occurred, or things would be so different. On this day 52 years ago a second set of events came together to change my life in such a beautiful way. I was about 15 months into my Air Force career and was assigned to Patrick AFB, Cocoa Beach, Florida. This was only about 170 miles from where I grew up in Plantation, Florida. I had received my Top-Secret security clearance and was working rotating shifts in the Base Communications Center. We were the email before there was email. We processed classified and unclassified messages on teletypewriters and sent them around the world using encryption systems and old mainframe computers over the military global messaging system. We worked in shifts of about five or six people and the schedule we worked was called a “Three, Three, and Three” schedule. Three swing (evening) shifts, three midnight shifts, and three day shifts. We would get off at 4:00 PM the last day shift and have three days off returning on a swing shift. I was scheduled to go on that break starting Sunday October 28, 1973. I had plans to drive home and get together with friends Sunday night. When I showed up for work however on Saturday, the last day of our day shifts, after we took care of the morning rush, my supervisor said I could take off. I had not planned to leave to Plantation on Saturday, but he didn’t have to tell me twice to get going.

I got to my mother’s house that afternoon, still in my uniform. I decided I didn’t want to just sit around and do nothing so I pulled out my address book and started calling. First, of course, a lot of friends were off to college so no luck with that group. I was calling late on Saturday and found many others not home or with plans already. I went from the front to the back of the address book, skipping over those I knew but never went out with. Diane was one of those as I had only met her when she gave me a ride home from work once. I saw her at graduation (I may or may not have had a bit of Boone’s Farm Strawberry Wine in me by that time). She had sent me a letter or two while I was in Basic Training doing her part to “Support the Troops.”  I had once asked her to a party and she said she was busy giving “CPR” to a fish that jumped out of her saltwater aquarium, so I sort of figured my chances with her were near zero. In her defense, this wasn’t just an excuse I later discovered, she really was busy saving one of her fish. 🐠 I hated rejection and that is what I figured I was in for when asking her out with such a short notice . . . but I was desperate. I backtracked to the numbers I had not tried in my address book and gave Diane a call. It was getting late when I called and asked if she wanted to go out; I was a bit shocked to get a “Yes.” I have learned it was a mix of her not wanting to sit at home on a Saturday night and again that “Support the Troops” thing. She however had a condition that didn’t involve fish CPR. She had just gotten in from horseback riding and needed time to clean up. I said I’d pick her up at 7.

Now before I get to the next part, I need to clarify something. The last time I saw Diane was for that minute a year and a half prior after graduation. Back then she had very long hair which I remembered and the most beautiful blue eyes which I could never forget. Other than that, the wine sort of clouded my memory. I also didn’t really plan on a date that weekend and came down in my uniform and packed mostly shorts and t-shirts. I did, however, still have some clothing I never took up to Patrick AFB in my old room, so I got dressed and went to pick her up. At this point I almost blew it. I knocked on the door and this cute girl with very short hair came to the door. The hair made her look younger than what I remembered and the line “Is your older sister home?” was on the tip of my tongue. I was saved by two things. First, I saw those beautiful eyes and then Diane said something about grabbing her purse so we could get going. I much later told her about what I almost said, she wasn’t too sure if that line would have gone over that great. 😊 She says her impression of me was at least I didn’t have the shaggy hair from my high school days, but both the pants legs and long sleeve shirt sleeves were a bit too small. I lived in shorts if not in uniform and I really didn’t notice the fit. She was kind enough to not say anything until long after we were married.

I had assumed she had eaten as I had and planned on going to a popular restaurant near the beach (Wolfie’s) known among other things for their ice cream. When we got there the wait was over an hour just to get inside. We ended up walking along Ft. Lauderdale Beach, sitting in a lifeguard stand, and talking a lot. Maybe we did some kissing too in that lifeguard stand. I really think I started to fall in love with her that night. We found some other things to do before I got her home as we just kept learning about each other. In high school we really had no connection but somehow it was so different that night. During my entire drive home from her house, my smile never faded. Before I had left her house, I asked if I could see her the next day and she smiled and said yes. All my plans for Sunday went out the window. After this I would spend as much time as possible seeing her on each of my breaks. Before driving back to the base each time we’d stay outside of her home taking forever to say goodbye. The more I got to know and love her, the longer the goodbyes took. The pay phone by my dorm got a lot of my change after this.

One of my “weekends” off had us going out in my father’s boat. Boating was in my blood, but it was something new for Diane. She next got me out of my comfort zone, taking me over to her sister’s place to do some horseback riding. This was new for me and yes, it showed. Her sister was so welcoming I felt like family already.   This was the older sister (by 13-years) I almost asked for on that first date. Her cute little niece was a great rider and she was maybe 5-years old. She kept giving me hints on riding and giggling as I flopped around on a horse that was trying to kill me. I never was thrown or fell off but did almost ride on the horse’s ears after a rather rapid stop just prior to almost hitting a fence. Who knew horses have “power breaks”? 😉 I swear I heard the horse laughing after this stunt. Both Diane’s niece and Diane would get up on the horse and they had no problems. I took it all in stride and enjoyed every minute of it because I was both having fun and was with the person I now knew for sure I loved. We went over to her sister’s house a few more times and they found a much more “friendly” horse for me to ride, and we rode together around Davie. My younger brother joined us going out to Davie on one trip as we did our best “Bonnie and Clyde” pose after shooting up old beer cans and tossed out Playboy Magazines. We knew our time was short and getting shorter. I had an assignment to Thailand leaving January 22. During my last week in Dec ‘73 at Patrick AFB Diane came up to the base for my unit Christmas Party. I picked her up Friday afternoon at the small pacemaker company where she worked quality control. I discovered they were already having a bit of a party themselves. I got to meet her boss and coworkers and drink a bit of their “experiment.” If I recall correctly this was straight shots of Southern Comfort. As I had a long drive still, I avoided too much “experimenting” with her coworkers. We got up to Cocoa Beach and in our beachside hotel room, got into more formal clothing, and were off to the NCO Club on the beach. Dang she looked great! She got to meet all the people I worked with and my VERY drunk First Sargeant. He kept calling her “sapphire” as he tried to get her to dance with him. The name he gave her I think was because of the color of her eyes. To this day we laugh at the way he kept calling her “Sapphirrrrrrrre!”  The fact she didn’t call it off after this unit party had to be because of love. That hotel we stayed at was the first of several we spent a night at that year which have burned down or have been torn down, we have out lasted them all. 😎. I took a month of leave prior to flying off to Thailand and spent as much time as I could with Diane. Little did I know I would have a lifetime to be with her.

As November moved into December some of my high school friends would be home from college. I was lucky that, by this time, Diane had learned how many of my best friends were female. They were all very important in my life, not so much in a romantic way but friends that helped me when I needed it the most. I owe them so much. She ended up meeting a lot of them and was loved by them all. Some friends came to visit knowing I would be leaving for a year overseas to a base in Thailand still supporting the war in Vietnam. I got to introduce them all to Diane. We were at one of these get togethers with Diane fitting in so nicely with my friends, when someone asked another friend about when she thought she’d get married. This is a subject Diane and I had not talked about at all. The question didn’t first go to Diane but when it did, she said, “I guess it will be whenever Max is ready.” I don’t remember my reaction, but I doubt I said much as it wasn’t something I thought about. It did, however, help me months later to write and tell her I was more than ready.  Remember that part of not liking rejection? I believe Diane’s words that day helped calm my fears that she might say no.

I met Diane the first time in early ‘72  because she worked across the street from me while in high school and she gave me a ride home. This was a totally random meeting set in motion by my younger brother. He was going to pick me up once I called after work because I had stuff to bring home that wouldn’t make it on my motorcycle. My brother however never got off the phone. That busy phone was part of a chain of events that really started a year prior that I had no clue would change my life. Diane and I came back together in ‘73  because my boss released me early from work and I ended up home with no plans for the night. I could almost always find someone to do something with when home but not that night. We got to spend lots of time getting to know each other that first date because of a long line at a restaurant. Any one of the little things not falling into place and my future would have been totally different. 

It is true, the stars do align for love.❤️