The Beginning

He was such a good-looking man. A man that always wore a suit.  Those crystal blue eyes twinkled when he spoke; they were framed by long, curly, pitch-black lashes. He completed the look with his gangster hat and black horn-rimmed glasses, which only added their own dramatic effect. She was completely mesmerized.  He was a college graduate. He had an easy, vibrant smile, and a dimple that spoke volumes to the beautiful and very wealthy, young socialite.  He stood out in a crowd, and she loved the way he dressed to perfection and the self-assurance she saw in him.

She was not the only one who was falling hard. He had planned on a life in the priesthood and was looking forward to joining the Jesuits the following Fall.  Suddenly, he found himself second-guessing his life-long dream. Before him, stood a vision of loveliness that took root in his mind and heart.  She was only sixteen but she seemed far more sophisticated and mature than his younger sister and they were the same age.  She had the lithe body of a dancer. Her skin was olive in tone, and her hair was several shades of natural blonde,  blending together in a shimmering sort of way.  She had piercing cat eyes, and there seemed to be a vulnerability about her, that he longed to protect. She was a mysterious woman, a  glamorous woman and he could not resist. 

Before the year was out these beautiful people exchanged vows of forever love, signified by a simple platinum wedding band bought at Woolworth’s. My mother was determined not to become Catholic just to marry my father. She had to believe, so they married in the Church Rectory and she continued studying. I loved that in her. Thus began the lifelong passionate love affair of my parents, Bob and Bobbe Wright. When I say passionate I do mean passionate in every sense of the word.

The first of many nightmares

As a child, I had been put down for an afternoon nap in my crib, and some time later awoke to the sound of blood-curdling screams that seemed to be coming from somewhere off in the distance. I had no way of knowing that those screams were actually coming from me, and served to wake me from a nightmare.   As she cupped my tiny head close to her chest, my Mother simultaneously reached down to retrieve my blanket, and then she wrapped it around me while she made her way downstairs to the little love seat that leaned against the wall in the front hall. Once there, she melodiously cooed aaa ah aaa over and over. The soft scent from her shampoo calmed me, and the vibrations of her voice reverberated into the most soothing feeling I had ever known. I closed my eyes feeling safe and warm, drifting off to sleep, and never ever wanting it to end.