Trophy Case Capter I

TROPHY CASE
Chapter 1
Ticket Booth”

         The stadium lights rained down on the fresh cut grass like a summer shower.  I remember scanning through the crowd, looking for a familiar face, just one person - anyone who had come to watch me play.  As a child, I only possessed the smallest bit of talent; I wasn’t what you could call a stand out athlete. As I grew my skills as an athlete would also grow, simple perseverance that leads me to this stage. Although the stadium was at capacity, it came as no surprise that no one was the in the stand just to for me.  – This would always make me sad.

         Fall became winter, winter became spring, and Friday night lights were now just a memory.  Summer break is just around the corner, and it felt like an eternity until that last day of school.  Looking back on those days, I guess I should have done things differently, or at least been more responsible.  Think about it; at some time in your life, “Haven’t you ever asked yourself, what if I had done things... differently?”

         Summer time - finally school was out, although instead of total freedom, my daily routine became boringly predictable and somewhat monotonous.  Yep, it was a job - a night clerk at the local filling station.  It was not as bad as it sounds.  It gave me plenty of time alone, and I welcomed it.  I even gave it a name (ME TIME).  You see, one could call me somewhat of a dreamer, at least in mind great things were in store.  Thoughts would pop back and forth from the present to what I thought my future would be if, like in my dreams, I achieved great things.

         Preparing to shut down the filling station for the night, I took a moment to scan over the lot.  Just like so many nights before, I would find my friend Randy sitting on the hood of my car. This came as no surprise to me, he always has had total disregard for others property. I can’t say why, but in finite moment my attention swung from my responsibilities, to the annoyance I called my friend. 

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         With discomfort and disgust I snapped, “Are you comfortable?”


         “Quite comfortable, thank you” he replied.

         “Well, I’m not.  GET OFF MY CAR!”

         “Okay, okay...chill!”

         With a theatrical poise, as if he were an Olympic gymnast dismounting a pommel horse, Randy sprang from the hood of my car.  Spinning around as his feet hit the pavement, he asked, “Can you give me a ride down to Main Street?”

         Still annoyed, my response was not quite friendly.  “Why would I want to take you anywhere?”

         “I’ve got to deliver a letter to a girl that works at the Dixie Theater.”

         My first thought was, I don’t have the gas or the time to waste taxiing him around delivering letters to some chick.  However, even though he can be quite annoying he is after all… my friend.  Agreeing to his request, I replied, “Okay, give me a couple minutes to lock up.”

         Main Street swarmed with local teenagers, and the cars on the strip moved at a snail’s pace.  Eventually I found a place to park adjacent to the theater.  With a little bit of anger in my voice I said, “Okay, let’s take her the letter and get going.”

         I don’t know if you believe in a higher being, although what happened next was more than a coincidence.  As we walked toward the box office, I caught my first glance of her golden blond hair.  A rush of words flowed out of my mouth like a bad rap record.  Grabbing the arm of my friend I blurted out, “that’s her, that’s the girl I am going to marry.”

         My feet felt like lead as I approached the booth.  “Hi, my name is Bruce.  You don’t know me but I’m going to marry you!  What’s your name?”

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         She looked at me with her beautiful blue eyes, and with a wink, she replied, “My name is Joyce - you’re number thirteen on the high school football team.”  “So that was you cheering me on as I sat the bench?”  I must have looked like a bobble-head toy as I turned to my friend and smiled, “See, that’s why I played football.”


         That summer I would get to know that blond haired beauty very well.  We laughed at every little joke and gesture.  As a teenager, I thought my life was finally complete.  She must be the one.  Nothing or no one was going to come between us.  I can’t say it was always a bed of roses.  We had our disagreements, and I’m sure her parents were not exactly thrilled with the prospect of a son-in-law like me.

         Joyce’s Parents...wow, what can I say?  The way they would talk when I would visit made me a bit uneasy.  I know they were just protecting their little girl. It must have been the hardest things they ever had to do. I know with age comes experience and Joyce’s father had no qualms lecturing me about the school of hard knocks.  Thinking back, I would have to say he hit the nail on the head.  Not only did her parents have a good idea about the future, I think they may have written the book. 

         After a couple of years, on June 2, 1979, Joyce became my bride. 

         I wish I could say that life was a fairy tale and we would live happily ever after.  Although marriage does not come with a set of instructions, I loved my bride and my heart was full.  In the youth of our marital bliss, we moved from place to place.  With each state and town, we searched for a place we could call home.  Our gypsy lifestyle took us from southern Utah to Texas, Wyoming, Arizona, and back to Utah.  In the summer of 1985, we blindly set out on a move to the Midwest.  Call it a leap of faith or destiny; the day we pulled up to that old rundown farmhouse in southern Missouri, we both agreed this would be our home.  After settling in, a new question became imminent.  What could make our life more complete... maybe a child? 

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         We felt it was Time to expand our family, we dreamed of what it would be like to have a little one to carry on our name.  We could only imagine what joy it would bring us by adding to our castle in the sky.  We researched everything about childbirth, made a plan, and started preparing for the future.

         As we tried to have a child, months went by, then years.  We tried everything.  We went through tests and fertility treatments each month... nothing!  So we prayed, but nothing.  I remember thinking if there is a God; we must have done something bad not to deserve a family.


         Eleven years went by.  My bride and I came to somewhat of an impasse.  Soon we found out nothing at all could be done.  Thought of having a child was something that would only cause us to fight.


         One morning; I woke and made my way to the kitchen to have a morning cup of coffee.  As I looked at my somewhat older but still beautiful bride, clasped in her hands was a half-empty cup of coffee.  Out of the corner of her eye was a single tear that rolled down her cheek.  I remember thinking...crap...what have I done now.

         She looked up at me and I knew something had happened.  “What is it?  What is wrong?”

         She took a small sip of coffee, and took a swipe at the tears with her forearm.  There was a gulp and with a quiver in her voice, she delivered the news, “I... I just received a phone call... my Uncle Frank has passed.”    My heart ached!

         I never handled it very well when my wife was sad.  I had to do something, anything to make her feel better.  “You know Uncle Frank would not want you to be sad.  Just try to remember the good times and he will always be with us.”

                     
-4-

         Then nothing - We sat there staring without focus, with a somewhat uncomfortable silence waiting for one another to speak.


         The ringing of the telephone broke the silence.  Not wanting to talk to anyone, I said, “Honey, you take it.”

         Ha... hello, hi, how are you, I guess you heard?

         I sat there watching my wife as she talked on the phone.  More tears, but these tears didn’t look like those of sadness.  Okay, what?  What now? Saying her goodbyes, my wife turned to me and said, “How would you feel about adopting a child?”

         “Honey, we tried that and you know we can’t afford adoption.”

         “But what if we could?  What if it were possible?”

         “And just how would it be possible?”

         “That was our friends from back home.  They know a girl who is having a baby in December.  She asked them to find a loving home, someone who would love and care for this child.

         The next eight months were just a blur to me.  Planning for a baby was anything but easy.  We needed to remodel the spare room into a nursery, make sure everything was in order on a legal aspect, and adjust to the simple fact that another life would be depending on us.  Having a child in our lives was as terrifying as it was exciting.

         December was finally upon us.  We knew approximately, when the baby was due, although as with any labor we did not have an exact date.  It was time to arrange for extra time off if needed.  Luckily, the factory we worked for shut down for winter vacation in late December.

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         Joyce has always said that when I get something in my mind I become a little bit OCD.  Knowing that, it came as no surprise that I put so much effort into planning for a child, that I forgot to decorate the house for Christmas.

         Our friends gathered for a short Christmas celebration, and soon we would head out for the long trip out West.  Eddie and Angie would sit our home while we were away.  What they failed to disclose was that our friends were conspiring to decorate our house with welcome home banners.

         Christmas that year was one we would never forget.  As anxious as ever, I just wanted to get on the road.  First, we had to load our friend’s truck with all our bags and packages.  If it were any other holiday, we would have presents galore, carefully wrapped with a bow and a clever little tag for our loved ones.  That year our holiday shopping filled the bags with diapers, baby formula, and a car seat.

         Late December is never a good time to travel very far without preparing for seasonal road conditions.  Our friend Danny volunteered the truck and driving duties.  We told him, “you don’t have to take us, but with a quirky little grin he said, “That is what friends do.”

         The sun was low in the western sky and it was a thirteen hundred mile trip to our destination - St. George, Utah.  Repeatedly I went through the checklist in my head.  I just knew we had forgotten something, but we could not wait any longer.  It was time to hit the road. “Okay, Danny, let’s go.”

         With his best David Bowie imitation, Danny started singing:

         “Ground control to Major Tom
         Take your protein pills and put your helmet on
         Ground control to Major Tom
         Commencing countdown, engines on
         Check ignition and may God’s love be with you”

         Ten - Nine - Eight – Seven...


         The first twenty or so miles seemed to go by at a snail’s pace.  Soon it was night and I came as no surprise to me that Joyce would fall sound asleep, after about 100 miles, , only waking ever so often to check on our progress.  Trusting Danny’s driving, my mind was at ease and I joined her.

Continue on to chapter II