***Note that the following will be short stories
Eighty-year old Gregory tended
to be a bit philosophical, at times. Reba, who was seventy-eight, had learned
not to argue with him because he always won. In fact, he never gave up until he
did. Their arguments had always proved to be somewhat circular in nature.
"Time has a way of going
around in circles. Not only that, when it goes around again, it goes faster and
faster; in other words, the second time around is nothing like the first."
"Oh, Gregory, it is not
like that at all," replied Reba, who had just married Gregory for the
second time. "If that was true, you would get dizzy."
"I don't know about that.
There are a lot of other things that can make me dizzy."
Reba knew Gregory very well
from the past. In fact, they had been married at one time, years ago. Their
marriage had been somewhat of a sham and thus, had resulted in broken promises
and heartbreak for both of them. It was with some degree of fear
and trepidation that Reba accepted his marriage proposal for the second time.
They were singles again, as her second husband and his third wife had both
passed away.
"I never should have
divorced you years ago," Gregory told her. "I must have been right
out of my mind."
"You needed to go the full
circle, dear," replied Reba. "Maybe I did too."
"It was never my intention
to run around in circles," replied Gregory.
"You certainly did enough
of that!"
"If I am going to be
honest with you and myself, I have to admit that is true."
"Thank you for being
honest," Reba said, breathing a sigh of relief.
When Gregory proposed to her
again, it had seemed even more romantic than the first time and yet, somewhat
of a whirlwind romance complete with flowers and all of the niceties missing the
first time they were married. They both loved dancing and
were still compatible as dance partners. Maybe that is why he proposed to her
again. There were times when she wondered about that.
"I never stopped loving
you," she whispered in his ear, while they were dancing at the nursing
home gala.
Much to Reba's dismay, her
fears appeared to be well founded. Gregory still had a persistent roaming eye
while they were at the gala. He constantly watched the younger women, many who
were very beautiful.
The only difference was that
now, he did not let go of Reba's hand even while his romantic thoughts soared.
He kept her close partly because he had severe hypertension and needed her help
to steady himself. He was also afraid that she might walk away from him.
"I knew this was too good
to be true!" Reba told her daughter, the next day. "He still has that
roaming eye."
"Aw, mom, you always loved
him and you always will. His roaming eye found you again, didn't it?"
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