He called that day.  "Did you try it on?"
"I did."
"Are you going to leave it on?"
"I'm thinking about it."  Truth was I had a date with another guy that night and there was no way I was going to leave it on.

Next day, I had a heart to heart with my mom.  "How do you know when you meet the right person?"
My mom was very wise.  "Everyone in Pryor adores him.  The men look up to him.  It's obvious he is in love with you.  He leads a fascinating and exciting life.  You won't be bored.  You could look the rest of your life and never find a better man.  And he will take care of you.  He is financially established.  You won't struggle.  And……he is soooooo good looking."  (Operative word)

When he flew in that weekend, I handed him the ring.  "You put it on my finger, and I will marry you."  And I did.  It took him from my birthday in March until August to convince me.  Six months of flying back and forth every weekend.  Best decision of my life. Looking back from 57 years later, I have one regret.  I didn't really have a clue who he was and didn't know how to appreciate how wonderful he was.  It took awhile.  I knew nothing about the Marine Corps and what an honor it was to be a part of all that.  He was a senior Captain.  I was just a kid.   I couldn't cook, I couldn't clean, I sent everything to the dry cleaners--even our under ware.  I had never washed a load of clothes.  (Remember that when I started to blog a year ago I told you that in my mother's house if you were reading a book, you didn't have to help with the housework.  Naturally I was always reading.)

The last week of his life, he looked up at me and said, "I'm so glad you married me."
"It has been such a great privilege to be your wife," I told him. "If I could do it over again, I would do it six months sooner.  All I did was waste time."

I loved him.  He loved me.  What else is there?