The View

I shared the first meeting with my wife to be, Cynthia Louise Morrison on Monday’s post. She was a complete stranger, but we became connected through the wedding of my cousin Alan Bottomley. She was an usherette and I was the best man. It was completely a happenstance meeting. We were both in college and I wasn’t looking for a date at the time. I was concentrating on completing my studies after my stint in the Navy.

Debra Firestone was Cindy’s childhood friend as well as her best friend. Cindy knew Bill Detar too. They attended the same university, California State College and probably met him through Debbie as well. Debbie saw my teasing Cindy at the wedding and played matchmaker. She invited me to go on a blind double date with Bill and her and Cindy of course. I needed a break from my books and agreed.

The date was for the dance cruise on the Gateway Clipper in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Debbie and Bill decided that we needed to eat before the cruise and stopped at Peasant Village Restaurant. The restaurant’s menu listed full meals as well as a la carte items. I was nervous and chose veal steak only. I was afraid of eating too much. When the veal came it covered the entire meat platter. I was glad that I hadn’t ordered more. It was delicious. Desserts, no thank you. Not another bite.

Back in the car and into Pittsburgh. We boarded the Clipper before the time it would leave the dock and wandered onto the upper deck. A soft cool breeze felt so wonderful. A large group of men were gathered at the pier side of the ship. Curiosity piqued, we wandered over to the railing to see what the attraction was.

Down on the dock stood a small group of people chatting, but there was only one person who was causing the stir. It was a rather busty blonde woman. She was wearing a powder blue outfit in a time where pantsuits were in style. The bodice of this suit was quite revealing. From perches along the railing, the men had a perfect view of the woman’s navel. Had the pants not been cinched tightly, I’m not quite sure what we would have seen. We kidded afterward, if one more man would have crowded the rail, the Clipper would have surely capsized.

The rest of the cruise was rather uneventful, but it eventually led to a second date and our marriage in May. Debbie and Bill’s wedding was in June. Our lives and families have been intertwined ever since. Their kids and ours were more like brothers and sisters than friends.