July 24, 1966 ...meeting the love of my life!

It was hot. The summer of 1966 was brutal, but just a prelude to the summer of 1967 when riots broke out in the streets. I was 16 years old and driving an ice cream truck in Toledo before my senior year at Woodward High School. My best pals formed a rock n roll band called The Mystic Eyes and I also became their manager. Part of the time, we checked out rival bands to keep track of the competition. Also, it was fun!

That Sunday night we all went to Rockland Lake Quarry for their weekly dance. A popular band drew a crowd of high school kids and others and the night air at the quarry felt cool after the humid day. 

The band began to play and all the cool kids were deciding if they liked the sound. That included us because,after all, we were scheduled to go to Cleveland in a few weeks to see The Beatles! 

At that moment, my eye captured first sight of the girl, then woman, I shared my life with from that moment until 1978 when we divorced.

She was spectacular! At 5 feet 9 inches, she had the greatest legs I ever saw that reached from her little gold sandals all the way up past her sexy gold short shorts. As her path closed to be within my ear space, I spoke without hesitation: “Do you know when the band will begin to play?”, I asked her.

She gave me a quizzical look but replied instantly,”The band is already playing. Don’t you hear it?”

We smiled at each other taking a first full mutual assessment of each other.

“What I hear is not music,”I replied. The electricity in the air at that moment was filled with the sealing of our boy-girl connection. Our eyes devoured each other, mirthfully exploring and suddenly discovering the possibilities. Luckily for me, she laughed at my joke. That was the first of maybe a million times I caused her to laugh out loud in the years we shared our lives.

Thinking of that night today, I can close my eyes and still see those long legs and little gold shorts.

Her name was Karen.

Still the love of my life.

Happy Anniversary Karen!