Memories - No one can steal them

Bill and I had such a short time together, but the memories I have are endless.  In September 2004, I had a business trip to Orange Beach, Alabama.  It was a three day conference. Bill was taking time off to go with me and I had purchased plane tickets.  Mine of course was covered by the company and I bought Bill his.  Our plan was to go down early, spend a few days in Destin, Florida and drive over to Orange Beach for the conference.  Work got in the way for Bill and we ended up getting a late start.  Because we were late, we missed the plane, so we drove.

Bill drove most of the way, but just outside of Florida, he was tired and asked me if I would take over.  We were coming to the area where I was going to have to take an exit to get on the road that took us to Destin.  Bill was reading the map and I was watching traffic.  A brown Mazda was driving erratically so I was watching him dart in and out of traffic.  I was traveling slightly above the speed limit myself, but  not as fast as he was.  I came upon a bridge with a slight crest, still watching him and not the road.  Had I been watching the road, I'd have seen the police officer who was setting just over the crest of the bridge.  Why he didn't track down this mad driver in the Mazda was beyond me, but he clocked me, or so he said.  I am almost positive he clocked the Mazda but knew he'd never catch it.

He pulled me over and Bill, in the passenger seat was grinning ear to ear.  Apparently he'd been in my spot before.  The officer came up to the passenger door and tapped on it. Bill had not been expecting that, he was waiting for him to tap on my window as I was the violator.  I rolled the window down and leaned over the center counsel to hand my paperwork to the officer.  He wandered what the hurry was and I told him we were headed to Destin and trying to figure out what exit we needed, "I probably just leaned on the gas a little too much as I was leaning over to look at the map he was holding."  I didn't turn on my southern charm, hell, I don't have any, but I was nice and accommodating.  He took my paperwork back to the car and Bill, still smiling said, "Good one, leaning over to read the map, now you'll get a speeding ticket and a reckless driving one as well."

He was loving this, but I had been stopped before and for the most part, if it is a male officer,  a warning.  Female officer, bitch writes me a ticket and I have to challenge  her in court. Male?  No problemo.

The officer came back handing the paperwork to me, "Ms. Schafer, I would appreciate if you'd slow it down.  I'd hate to see ya'all have an accident before you get to your conference.  Now, here's how I would suggest you go, it's the shortest route." He proceeded to tell me how to reach my destination, tipped his cap to me and wished me a good day.  The grin on Bill's face disappeared as I rolled the window back up. 

"Did he just give you a warning and directions?"  I shook my head yes.

"Yes! Can you believe that! I still have it!"  I was tickled pink.  I didn't have to even resort to serious flirting, he just let me go.

"I would have gotten a ticket. I can't believe how lucky you are."

"Lucky in love, Baby, nothing else. And wasn't lucky in love, til you came along.   Sounds like a song."  I started singing "Lucky in love in all the wrong places, lucky in love in too many phases"...he just smiled and told me he loved me.  

We reached Destin and found the condo we had rented on the beach. When I lived in Atlanta, this was a destination beach, a five hour drive and I had heard it was beautiful.  I had always wanted to go, but between Chappy's job and Min, that was never going to happen.  It was a beautiful day, but Hurricane Ivan was just off shore.  They were unsure where it was going to land, but Destin was a possibility.

It didn't surprise me.  No matter where I traveled, if the calendar said vacation, where ever I was heading they would have beautiful weather until I landed and then there would be breaking news, "the worst storm front in history has just moved in."  I'd leave and so would the storm. Having a drought where you live? Call me.  I'll come visit. You will need waders and a flat bottom boat to escape the area.

This was our first time to a beach and he knew I was a sun worshiper.  Nothing that pleased me more than to lay in the sun and read a book.  He couldn't lay in the sun all day, he'd burn and he didn't have the patience to.  He was afraid I'd be upset.  Not at all.  I appreciated that he told me instead of pouting about it like others I had known.  We agreed we'd go to the beach for a bit, but really, we both wanted to go exploring.  

As we laid on the beach, we were noticing the changes in everything.  The clouds were rolling in, they were dark and they floated in every direction possible.  There were hundreds of people on the beach with their surf boards, riding the waves that appeared to be larger than normal, yes, there was a horrific storm a brewing just off the coast.  The sun disappeared and we headed back to the room. We had played like kids in the ocean and laid on the beach just talking about our future and how excited we were for it to start. 

The news reports were interrupting regular programming to warn residents of the potential threat.  People just went on with their day as if nothing was different.  People!?! Hello?  There is a hurricane about to drop kick you all to Canada, some one? Anyone watching or listening to the news?  Nope.

Houses were still being built on the water front. Million dollar homes.  People were still mowing their grass, life just went on.   Some, probably northerners were boarding up their vacation or retirement homes that they had spent their life fortune on, but the average Joe just continued on as if it were just another day in paradise.

We got dressed and headed to lunch on the beach.  We drove around and took in the beauty of the area, commenting on how this could be gone tomorrow. We found an outlet mall and did some shopping.  Had dinner and headed back to our room.  The next day, evacuation of the area, every one was to leave immediately.  I called the hotel where the conference was to be held, cancelled due to weather.   This is serious.  The whole coast line was a possible target so every one was asked to exit, bridge north.  And everyone did at once.

There was one bridge that took you to the highway.  It took Bill and I twelve hours to drive from Indianapolis to Destin, it took us twelve hours to drive from Destin to a hotel just south of the Alabama border where we were lucky to find the last room at that exit. The road was packed solid of escapees and not one car headed in the other direction.  Why they didn't close the south bound lanes and open them for those traveling north, beyond me.  Thank goodness we got out in time.

By the next morning, we were headed home and the drive was a breeze compared to the one we had just completed the night before, but when we arrived in Indianapolis, breaking news, Hurricane Ivan had hit land, Destin was   a mere shadow of its former self.  We saw pictures of places we had just been to the two days before, gone, crumbled.  Disbelief that we had gotten out just in time.

I have so many little memories of him.  When I  had to put Precious down, he came to the vet with me.  It was such a hard decision for me to put her down, but she had not been acting herself and had started to lose control of her bowels.  I had awoken one morning to blood every where and had no idea where it was coming from as it was on her, but I couldn't find the source.

I dropped her off at the vet that morning and asked them to watch her.  They agreed, she wasn't herself.  So that evening I called the family who was kind enough to share her with me.  Bill knew how hard it was for me to put her down.  But he gave me words of encouragement.  "She brought you home for me to take care of. She took care of you all those years, but now I'll take care of you."  It was so sweet, but who would have guessed that I'd lose both of them so close together. She was the  one thing that kept me alive when I didn't want to go on.  For that, I'll always be grateful to her.

I loved to surprise Bill.  We loved Mission Style furniture, so I bought him a book case for all of his movies.  I didn't tell him about it, I just ordered it and had it sent to his home.  I knew he would miss it as he came through the garage and the box would have been left at the front door, so when I got notice that it had been delivered, I called him to see if a box had been delivered for me.  He was surprised at how large it was, but said, "It's not for you, it's addressed to me."  I came over later and he was like a kid at Christmas putting it together and storing his movies in it.

His favorite though was the chess table I had purchased for him.  He had these beautiful marble chess pieces, but no table.  I ordered another Mission style table with a marble chess table for the top.  He was over the moon for this and was so tickled when I'd surprised him for no reason, but I loved him.

Wise people will tell you to seek education as it is the only thing no one can take from you.  Your house can be taken.  Your personal belongings can be stolen. Your family can turn on you, but the one thing that no one can take, are your memories.  You will have them for as long as you can remember the good times and the bad.  I have wonderful memories of my Bill, but that would soon change.  I would soon be making sad memories, but in the long run, they turned into warm memories as well.