Reply #148: Enlisted Men's Club - Pearl Harbor, 1978 [View All]

[Ezlivin]

I was visiting for the first time, standing in line to get a glass of water. (Really!) There was an exercise called Rimpac going on, so we had sailors from all over the world in port. I was in line with the motley group when a blonde in a black jumpsuit approached me and asked if I would get a drink for her.

One thing led to another and we ended up spending $27 at the Justice of the Peace in Honolulu and got ourselves hitched. We had KFC for dinner, sharing it with our best friends (and witnesses). That night at midnight she had to go to work (she was a Navy E-5, working at CINCPACFLT).

Two years later my back was broken in a hit-and-run accident in base housing. The admirals at work let her bring fresh food to my beside at Tripler Army Medical Hospital and spend time with me.

I never walked, or swam, or danced with her again.

But we stayed together and we're still married after 27 years.

Here's a before and after picture: