The new year came and went as 2018 would hopefully usher in a better year than last. I was struggling mightily with the consequences of my brain hemorrhage. This was no joke. Doctor Gooch was right. I needed a good three months of work and stress free existence. We all know that that didn’t happen and I’m paying for it now. No time to complain though, life goes on. A great celebration was coming up. Sixteen years prior, I was setting goals. Way back in my blog, I wrote that I would be blessed to be able to see Nick graduate from kindergarten. That was a major milestone in my battle with CML that I would reach after so much fight and resilience. It was an incredibly emotional time for me and accomplished right before my first major relapse. Now, I was going to see my boy graduate from college. Who would have thought! Lori and I were so proud. After five years of hard work and perseverance, Nick would be graduating from Temple University Fox School of Business with degrees in Real Estate and Risk Management. The ceremony was fabulous! Held at the Liacouras Center on Temple’s main campus, we had a whole contingency of family attend. Afterwards, we had a great luncheon in town, a glorious day. The happiness we felt for Nick went hand in hand with the sadness we had in our hearts because he would be leaving in a few days for his new career in Los Angeles. So far away, we already had plans to visit in the summer. Lor cried at the airport when we dropped him off for his flight. My tears waited until he went into the terminal. Nick was a smart, handsome, confident and determined young man. “He’ll be fine”, I said to Lori in the car. “He’ll be fine”.
We cruised through Valentines Day at the store a week later and prepared for the winter blues. Usually, after that holiday, we waited for the tax refund money to start flowing. Engagement ring sales would shoot up as that extra influx of funds helped our customers out who were looking to pop the question. We were happy to oblige. I needed a gift too. The end of February was my wedding anniversary. Married on the 29th of February, leap day, I always joked that since the date was not on the calendar but every fourth year, I had two or three days to come up with a gift. The 28th of February, the 29th of February or the 1st of March! All kidding aside, this year was 26 years. An important number in our family. Lori’s birthday was on the 26th, Nick’s was too. Joey wore the number 26 as his jersey number from when he started playing Junior hockey as a tribute to his Mom and Nick. Kicked me to the curb eh!
Our story began when my brother Glenn had a vacation he had planned, stymied by a work obligation thrown at him at the last minute. A week in Puerto Rico was mine if I wanted it and could quickly arrange transportation. Hell yeah! I asked my friend Eric Cutler if he wanted to go and off we went. A week at the El San Juan hotel. A nice but hot week in July of 1990. We arrived on a Friday morning, relaxed for the afternoon and headed out to dinner at the hotel restaurant and Casino. During dinner, we noticed a trio of pretty young ladies having dinner in the restaurant at the same time. We made our way over to their table and started up a conversation after we had finished our meal. Lori Ann, Valarie and RoseAnn were their names and they were definitely not from Philadelphia. Their distinct New York accents were both loud and prominent in our conversation as we tried to talk over the surrounding noise and local band playing in the venue. I was mostly speaking with Lori and having a nice time connecting with her. The night flew by and the girls excused themselves, going back to their hotel a few blocks away around 1 AM. Eric had left about an hour earlier. I was wide awake and feeling great. I wandered over to the casino and tried my luck at the Roulette table. Having never played before, I started out watching other players and their strategies. At 4 am, the casino closed down and I cashed out with $2800 dollars in chips pouring out of my pants pockets. Holy Sh@*%^t! What a night!
The next day, Eric and I spent time on the beach and decided to head over to the Sands Hotel and Casino for dinner. The girls had mentioned that they were staying there until Sunday and we figured that maybe we would run into them again. That we did and they said that they had made reservations at our hotel and would be heading that way soon. With time to kill, I convinced Eric to join me in the casino before going back to the El San Juan. I was on a roll. Two hours later and $500 dollars up, I figured that we better go back and try to meet up with the New Yorkers. Our cab pulled up in front of the hotel literally as they were walking out. One more minute later and we would have missed them. Talk about fate. RoseAnn and Valarie excused themselves whlie Lori agreed to join me and hang out in the club for a little while longer. A little while longer lasted until 2 AM. The conversation was just amazing and the connection even better. I walked her out of the hotel and we strolled along the beach towards the Sands while the light of the moon and stars lit our way. We stopped and sat on a large boulder that presented an opportunity for me to write my cell phone number down for her and then get her info as well. All of a sudden, a loud burst of thunder and big bolt of lightning ruined the moment. We walked quickly along the fence that separated the beach from the hotel parking lots, trying to beat the impending onslaught of a tropical thunderstorm. We reached the gate for the Sands only to find it locked. The public access was about another block away. We ran to the open gate as the skies opened up. I pulled this beautiful young lady under a huge Palm tree to escape the monsoon descending upon us and made my move. Lip to lip, it was about as romantic as you could get! A Harlequin novel written in real time. As the rain started to subside, another mad dash to the hotel entrance, an elevator ride to her floor and another kiss at her door. I waited a sec as she closed the door and listened as the conversation got loud on the other side. Undoubtedly, an excited exchange. I hoped it was promising.
28 years later, was it our 26th anniversary….?? There was no 29th of February on the calendar this year. Doesn’t matter, every year is leap year…For us.
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