OMG!!!! I was doing good, all caught up... Yeah, doing the other page a day challenge on different site also... both caught up... then this one came along on the same day the other site had a challenge that left me cold also... Anyone who knows me knows I love to talk... so journaling is not a problem for me... BUT I also only spend time on things that are relevant to getting my life Story completed... My mind totally went blank... It was 3 days before it began functioning again and I came up with a thought process... It WAS a journey getting to this page... That said then it was just a matter of doing it, but by now I am 5 days behind and trying to work on all of them... yeah... the mirror one got me this morning for at least an hour!!!! I see in other comments I am not the only one not happy with 3 out of 4 days requiring extensive journaling!!! For me the others are in the works also.... Well in the end I am very happy with this page and it DID need to be done... I have a gap in my life story between HS and marriage... one by one pages are getting done for this era... Journaling will be pasted below the page....

604 words
When I first met Rodger he was a happy go lucky 23 year old, working in a Truck Stop. Back in “my” day , 23 year olds were considered men and were ready to take on the responsibilities of a wife and family... So different from today... now 23 year olds are considered barely “wet behind the ears”! The immediate attraction between us was obvious from the first moment we met... But he also had a life beyond me... and had all his guy friends, etc... Marriage was the last thing on his mind!!! While for me it was the only thing on my mind! He had NO idea he had just met his future wife!!!!
One memory I have that is a bit strange and a bit funny and I have always shook my head at it, was... he needed an engine or some such thing for his car and could not afford it... Well he struck up a deal with me , that if I would get him the engine he would get me an engagement ring... How Romantic!!! But it was a real offer, that did not play out...
As our romance played out, some things happened, that should not have... that resulted in his moving away from Spokane for a period of time... so I, at 18 years of age, of course went looking for new love! I had plenty of suitors... but that is another story! Eventually he moved back to Spokane, but by this time I was engaged to Ken Cheney, a very nice young man, who had come to Spokane with the Air Force. He proposed on Valentines Day 1961.
Then I started happening across Rodger around town.. .I would look over and he would be in the next car, etc... and that old attraction was still as strong as ever... I always knew Ken was not “the one” but had gotten myself into a situation I did not know how to get out of...
By this time Ken was staying in my folks house , sleeping on the couch and worked for an architectural firm downtown and I was working for the Old National bank , also downtown. We rode back and forth to work together... The time came when I had to be at work an hour early on Mondays because of the heavy weekend work load and then got off an hour early on Thursdays... So I had an hour to kill before Ken picked me up.
I finally realized I had to take the ”Bull by the horns” and make a move, so I sent a note to Rodger telling him of my feelings and if he felt the same perhaps we could meet on a Thursday at 4 PM... He called me at work to accept and picked me up. In that hour we recommitted to each other... then he dropped me off back at work for Ken to pick up. I knew I had to tell Ken immediately. We were sitting in the car in my parents driveway... When he realized what I was saying he said “give me the ring back!” , went in and packed, and to the best of my memory I never saw him again!!!! I have always wondered if he came back and watched from a distance as to whether Rodger and I stayed together...?
This all happened late spring of 1961. Rodger and I were married on August 4 of that year...1961
He was truly the “love of my life” and we had 36 wonderful years together before he died 23 years ago! in 1997