My beloved late husband always thought Valentine’s Day came way too quickly after Christmas. He didn’t think he was the best shopper for this particular event and flowers and candy never seemed to cross his mind. Lucky me, he normally headed to the jewelry store instead and I have to say he did an outstanding job in that venue. This coming Monday will be my very first Valentine’s Day without him in thirty-seven years.
Actually, it’s my first ever Valentine’s Day without someone in my life because I had a first husband who was the father of my two adult children. We were married twenty-five years. We began dating when I was eighteen years old and he was twenty-one. Like most young and single girls, I was also dating other guys, as well. One of them had become a pretty regular companion and gave me a nice pearl choker for some occasion.
On the first Valentine’s Day dating potential Hubs #1, we went to a dance at the Topper Club. It was an elegant ballroom on the second floor of the south wing of Music Hall in the downtown area of Cincinnati, Ohio, the town where we grew up and lived. All the big bands, orchestras and singers were featured there, one at a time, of course. I wore a knockout red dress and beige silk stiletto heels with the aforementioned pearl choker around my neck, plus matching clip-on earrings. He was quite dapper in a gray suit, white button-down dress shirt with cuff links (remember those?) and a tie.
We and our friends were having a splendid time that evening and future Hubs #1 and I were out on the dance floor enjoying a slow tune. To my dismay, all of a sudden he grabbed the pearl choker around my neck and jerked it hard. It broke and pearls plinked rapidly to the hardwood floor. I was astounded and began picking them up. Other dancers had stopped to stare at us, mouths agape. I glared at him and stomped back to the table.
But before I got there, he grabbed me by the arm and asked, “You didn’t like that?” I just stood there dumbfounded and said nothing. That’s when he reached into the inside chest pocket of his suit and pulled out a long, thin gray box. Handing it to me, he said, “Well, maybe you’ll like this.” When I opened the box, inside was a beautiful and obviously expensive cultured pearl choker. It was then I discovered he had a rather dramatic personality or, if you prefer, a unique sense of humor. I still have that choker to this day and only now realize how old it has become – much like myself.
Don’t ask me what brought this story to my mind. It suddenly flashed back into my memory when I decided to write a Valentine’s Day blog. Sadly, Hubs #1 also passed away several years ago. However, if he’s looking down, he will smile that I remembered.
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