The Other Side of the Tracks

"Just a bit of getting used to, I guess. I knew this day would come, but not this fast."

The following week, we took all four girls back to school shopping. What an experience! I tried not acting the old stick in the mud dad, but I just couldn't believe what was passing for school clothes, these days.

I did have to remember, we'd been married just over 20 years and as Bob Dylan sang, 'The Times, They Are A Changing'

As the older one's Senior year was going faster than we both wanted, we started looking at colleges. With WSU being right in town, we figured both would go there.

Bev informed us that Jeremy was headed 8 miles east, across the border to Moscow, Idaho, to the U of Idaho. So, yes, we let her apply there, too.

One night, we were just finishing dinner, when we noticed Liz with a really sad look on her face.

"What's up, Lizzy, you look like you've lost your best friend."

"I think I have, if Bev goes off to Idaho. Ron has been accepted at Whitman, and I kind of wanted to go there, too."

Whitman, a private school, in Walla Walla, that just happened to be the most expensive school in the entire state, and was noted for its academic excellence.

"Liz, you know you can go anywhere you want, and its only 2 hours away. And if you are concerned about costs, don't be. Grandpa Donald has made sure of any choice you girls make."

"It's just I've never gone to school without Bevvie," she cried.

With that, Bev walked back into the room, and gave her sister the loving hug she needed at that time.

"We'll only be two hours away, plus we have phones and emails, too," giving her sister some needed love.

I started to think just how good of friends these two were. Plus, they could compete, academically, from 120 miles away. They both wanted to major in something related to business and finance.

With both soon off to college, our two younger girls would be entering their junior year of high school, and started talking about dating. I guess I shouldn't have been shocked, as I knew these days would be here. Its too bad they came so quickly.

As time seemed to flying by, I was made a supervisor, with a nice jump in pay. It also gave my body a rest, not doing all the physical things I'd been doing for over 20 years.

As our younger girls were graduating high school, they both were accepted to WSU, right across town. During the summer, with them both having part time jobs, it gave Claire and me more time to enjoy our time alone.

Yes, we still had sex. As often as possible. Maybe not as wild and crazy as when we were much younger, but more than satisfying.

One particular evening, when we lost track of time, we didn't even hear our girls coming in the front door, from work, just as we were finishing a great fucking session, in our living room! To call us embarrassed didn't do us justice.

Since there was nearly nothing we could do, we calmly got off the couch, gathered our clothes, and slowly walked to our bedroom.

After having one hell of a laugh, behind our closed door, we came back to find both of them still sitting in the living room.

"Anything you girls want to ask us?" We both said, trying our best to keep a straight face.

"Uh, no, I think we saw way more than we needed!" I guess that answers the question of, 'do they, or don't they'

We really never talked about that, again. But with our older girls asking some pointed questions, we knew the two younger ones told their older sisters about what they saw.

When the school year started, we had done some number crunching, and found it to be a better deal, buying a small house close enough to campus that the girls would share, knowing they were responsible enough to get their studying done, before doing anything stupid.

With all four kids in college, Claire and I talked, seriously about cutting way back. We were in very good financial shape. We still lived in the same house we were given as our wedding present. We even talked about keeping it, as we knew it would come in handy for when grandchildren started arriving on the scene.

The older two were getting ready to start their final year at their respective schools, when they asked about coming over for a family dinner. It didn't take a rocket scientist to know what just might be coming.

They even made sure the younger two were there, too. At least the younger ones weren't in any serious relationship, so we were happy to have just the six of them.

We knew Liz and Ron would be staying the night, not wanting to drive back so late, so they were already there when Bev and Jeremy arrived.

After the usual greetings, Andrea blurts out, "when are you guys getting married?"

Talk about subtle. Our girls were all that close, none of them could hide such a huge decision from the others.

Both Jeremy and Ron, asked us, one at a time, for permission to marry our girls. We had been expecting this for some time, and gave them all our approval.

As we sat back, listening to the family chatter, Claire whispered to me that it was too bad her parents couldn't have lived long enough to see this, having both passed away, the previous year.

When both couples told us they had been talking about a double wedding, we weren't shocked, as they had hinted about this for a while. This did give us about 9 or 10 months to plan their weddings.

We left the six of them alone to talk about what was going to happen, and went outside to just take in what had happened.

We were getting two sons-in-law, both fine young men, with good career possibilities, with them already looking at job offers for when they would graduate.

We knew, too, that grandchildren would be coming, sooner rather than later. Just sitting on our patio, with Claire's head resting on my shoulder, we couldn't believe our good fortune.

The school year passed by in a flash. The two graduation ceremonies were a week apart, giving us ample time to attend both of them.

The double wedding couldn't have been better. I could hardly contain myself, walking both my girls down the aisle. They had their sisters as maids of honor, and, yes both younger ones came with a date, that were starting to get serious.

We took a full week off, to recuperate from the festivities, as the two couples were both off on their honeymoons. At two different locations.

As the two younger girls were ready to graduate, they both were in relationships that appeared to be getting serious.

I had fully retired, with enough to keep me occupied. Bev and Jeremy presented us with a grandson, just two months before Liz and Ron had a daughter.

Neither Claire nor I could spoil them fast enough. Truth be told, both couples did have to warn us about going overboard.

With Liz and Ron living in Walla Walla, and Bev and Jeremy in Spokane, we did our share of driving, happily, to visit our grandchildren.

Both the younger girls were graduating and living with their boyfriends. Claire did have to warn me not to be too judgmental, as they were all very responsible. I did ask them both if it wouldn't be too much to ask, if they got married before having kids. Call me old fashioned.

They both actually listened to their old man, and we did the double wedding thing, again. I really wasn't all that upset when Andrea and her husband Tom had their son just over six months after their wedding.

Just four months later, Jan and her John had a son, too.

We now had four grandchildren to dote on, and now we had our 30th anniversary to plan.

Jerry had passed away, but mom was still doing quite well. All our girls, with their own families were there, with the two older ones expecting their second kids.

Looking back on this most unlikely marriage, Claire and I talked many times about overcoming the odds of a kid from the wrong side of the tracks and a wealthy farmer's daughter making the absolute perfect couple.

Did we have our struggles? Damn right. No couple married 30 years doesn't have some bumps in the road. Did we overcome them, together? Yes, together, being the key word.

Every now and then we think back on how we made our life, together. The very lucky chance of me hearing that jerk trying to hurt my best friend, and intervening. By the way, he was eventually arrested for assaulting another woman, and spent time in jail.

With our grandchildren now at six, we just couldn't be happier.

And that note Claire left on my desk, at school? Framed on the wall in my den. I look at it every chance I get.