A Love Story

A Love Story

To my beloved Katherine wherever you may be.

            In the beginning I viewed her from across the room at the Christian Student Senter, with her 

dishwater blond hair flowing.  I recognized her but did not think much of it at the moment.  Afterall, 

she was no more at that moment than just another girl who blended in with the other Christian girls.  

Afterall it was just a mix and mingles event anyway.

            The next morning at breakfast I was to see her in a skirt and blouse getting her breakfast at the

 Emporia State University cafeteria.  She was with her group of young women, and I said, "excuse me,

but you have a familiar looking face would you like to have breakfast together?" 

             

            Her name was Katherine and she quickly asked her group of female friends and then said, "Yes, 

I think I shall."

            Later I found out Katherine was an Early Childhood/Education major (AT ESU if you had

 Education as a major you had to have a double major) My major on the other hand was Sociology with

 a Theater minor.  It was the beginning of a beautiful relationship.  She had told me that her father

 owned a dairy ranch which might have explained her creamy white skin, and big brown eyes.

              I soon found us in church together as well as classes.  Classes like Intro to Theater, Sociology 

of Relationships, Sociology of Divorce, Magic & Witchcraft.  Then we would watch Days of Our Lives

 together, and had all of our meals together.  Wherever I was she was there also there was no doubt, but 

that we were a couple.   Looking back at it maybe we were together to much of the time.

               When I saw we were getting too serious, I told Katherine all about my past sins that I had 

done in my youth.  She just shrugged it off and said "children do that type of stuff".

                 

                  She was not a member of the church of Christ, but she was forgiving, and she could be 

converted.  She was perfect, because there is some women in the church who won't forgive me of my 

past.  One thing I needed was a forgiving spouse, because bringing luggage into a marriage is a big 

enough problem.  Her only drawback is she would not kiss until we were married.  This I could put up

with since I thought it might have been she thought it was what caused pregnancies.  Then we watched

 a movie which had the idea of kissing causing pregnancy in  it and she laughed.  

                     One day in the Fall we were under a tree near the lake, and I got down on  one knee.  At 

which point she yelled at me "what are you doing there is only one time in your life when you should

 be down on your knee, and that is when your proposing to me?"

                      

                      So I finished and asked for her hand in marriage.  She said yes, and we went down to the 

jewelers to pick out a ring.  I would have gotten her a proper diamond ring, but she wanted one with 

her birthstone in it.  So that is what I got her for her engagement ring,  Though only a diamond would 

have been good enough for her grandmother.  I was never good enough for her mother either.  On the 

other hand Katherine's father, and my parents felt that as long as we were happy that is all that 

mattered.  Katherin's Mother finally gave in by sending me a book on Men's Meditations.

                    

                 On Christmas break we went home to her parent's ranch.  I slept in Katherin's room, where

 she slept in the basement.  At breakfast we had milk straight from the dairy cows.  Katherine's mother 

offered to water it down to make it more like the store's.  I told her that would be okay my grandfather

 had a milk cow, and I had drank milk straight from the cow before.

                  

                       Katherine had already told me that the family had already decided that when she got

married her totem item on plates and such would be the cow.  Katherine did not care for that idea and 

wanted to get away from the ranch, she was sick of cows.  She would live with the cow as a totem item 

though.  Nevertheless, my spirit animal is the dog. 

                         Then we went to Oklahoma to visit my parents.  While we were there my dad was on 

to preach.  The next Sunday morning I was on to preach but Katherine had other plans for me to which 

I told her no for we had not discussed it beforehand.   I spoke on the innocence of the church, which 

was the last time I was to speak in the little church in Nowata, Oklahoma.

                             As time passes by we finally came to the big blow at about a month before our

 marriage.  Katherine told me it was over due to the fact that someone who went to the "Prayer at the 

Flagpole", said I was gay.  I suppose we could have worked things out. but if she was going to listen to 

gossip, and not stand by her man, then I did not want her.

Paul D. Eccles