My father managed a farm supply place. Jean was a customer and growing up I watched her blossom and mature, even marry and divorce, as her small family died off, leaving her alone. All the time my own growing heart was beating away for her. She had natural blonde hair she did in a Pageboy from childhood on, never wore lipstick, nor needed it, and had the most hypnotic cornflower blue eyes I have ever seen. She always wore denims and a plaid cotton shirt or another, her denims always well worn, torn and sun-bleached but crispy clean. I could see her powerful gluteal muscles moving under the denims and my little heart beat louder as I grew up watching her from afar and eventually helping her load her pick up truck.

I went to college, did a stint in the Navy in medicine as a Hospital Corpsman, caring for badly injured Marines, then returned to my dad's business. Jean was still coming in, sporadically, for various things. My heart thumped in my chest as she came up to me at the cash register with her credit card. I processed it for her. She smiled at me and welcomed me back home. She still lived on her farm, childless, divorced from one bad marriage. A month later I delivered some stuff for her fields. She invited me in for coffee. Sitting quietly with her, with tears in my eyes, I freely told her that I have loved her forever. We ended up making love in her house. Today, my destiny has revealed to me that we will be together until the end.