“You love the dog more than you love me!”
Robert and I were headed for a divorce, so I suppose that was true.
“And your point is?” I replied. Not out loud, of course; I kept it in my little pea brain. But it was then that I realized that my Baby Beau, my little miniature schnauzer mix, was the love of my life.
Love comes in all shapes and sizes. And I realized after two divorces, 20 years apart, that I wasn’t really good at this relationship stuff. I was much better with animals. Perhaps this is because of my upbringing on a North Dakota farm where I was surrounded by them.
I lost Beau when he was 15. But I had 11 wonderful years with him, which is five more than I had with Robert.
I couldn’t replace Beau for many years until I finally found Lucy several years after I moved from San Diego to Laguna Woods Village. When asked if I have a significant other now, I always answer, “Yes, her name is Lucy.”
However, I do miss romance sometimes. Robert and I eloped to Las Vegas. We actually went to Ensenada, but when we got there, we found out it was a holiday in Mexico and so we had a wonderful meal at a restaurant we liked and then started the trip home.
At least, I thought we were going home, but eventually I asked, “Where are we going? This isn’t the way home.”
“We’re going to Las Vegas, Robert said. “If we don’t get married today, I think you’ll back out of it.”
So off to a cute little chapel we went. And no Elvis Presley there. Instead, we were married by a delightful man with a delightful French accent.
Five years later, when Robert’s mom and my sister and brother-in-law were visiting us, Robert decided we should get our vows renewed by this same man — in French — which was kind of ridiculous because none of us spoke French. However, it did end up being quite romantic.
About a year ago, I decided to have the VCR tape of our vows transferred to a CD. And eventually, I decided to play it for someone.
It started out just fine, but after about 15 minutes, suddenly a “Frasier” episode came on and replaced the rest of our vows. It was a good episode, but still.
I share this with you because it’s definitely a sign of how romance goes for me. Hope it goes better for all of you — and happy Valentine’s Day.
Diane Duray is a Laguna Woods Village resident. Contact her at dduray47@gmail.com.
