Anticipation and Hope

Each day for the next three months, I repacked 50 lb boxes of Tide powder.Kenny worked in the shipping department driving a tractor, stacking stretch wrapped boxes of soap and detergent, loaded trailers and so much more.  I worked in the back of shipping by myself doing the same job each day. I waited in anticipation for him to come around the corner in his tractor. His tractor had a certain sound I got adjusted to and I hoped each day he would come to where I was, to pick up the pallet I had finished. When he did, I saw his beautiful eyes and listened to his gentle manly voice as he spoke to me. Those are the moments I still remember so clearly. I saw him most of the time during breaks and lunch. I worked with men in their late fifties and early sixties with the exception of Kenny and a couple of others.I was only 23 at the time and the guys always told me they loved having me there. Of course, they just loved to tease me about anything and everything, including wanting Kenny and I to be an item. I would get so embarrassed when they did that with both of us in the break room.

We weren’t dating yet but I knew we would someday. I got to know Kenny a little from talking during break, being in the office with him and  when he came around that corner where I worked each day. We became acquaintances over the next three months. Each and every day for those three months, I always had so much anticipation and hope that I would see him. I would listen for his tractor and when it came around the corner, my day was complete. I had a major crush on him, he just didn’t know it yet. I held onto so much hope and had such anticipation. My temporary job was coming to an end. I didn’t want to lose my job but more than anything I didn’t want to miss Kenny everyday. I never felt so passionate about any person in my life and I didn’t even know so much about him. All I knew is the way I felt the first time I met him and that moment was embedded in my heart. All I could do is hope that I would be hired on a permanent basis.The anticipation was the hardest, yet I was hopeful because I knew that we would be together someday, somehow.

He Had Me From Hello

It was July of 1987, when I met the man I knew I would be with for the rest of my life. I was hired for a temporary job repacking damaged 50 pound boxes of Tide for P&G. Jim, who had just hired me, took me for a tour through the shipping department. As we entered the short hallway leading to the break room, I was a little nervous because I was going to meet my new coworkers. Jim opened the door, introduced me and left me standing there. There were about six men sitting in chairs laid back and relaxing.

I will never forget what happened in that moment. It was the moment that Kenny said hello to me. It was not just a normal hello, it was the way he said it with so much passion. It was in his beautiful hazel eyes which had a splash of green in them. It was the way my heart sunk when I first laid eyes on him. I was in a trance and my eyes were locked with his. It was in his gentle yet manly voice that I can still hear from this day. I had a feeling I never felt before. I can’t explain it but I still remember how I felt that day,  I knew from that moment we would spend the rest of our lives together. That was the day “He had me from hello”