His SUV was pulled over at a scenic overlook on Skyline Drive. The back hatch was open and he was sitting in one of the two chairs he had placed just outside, angled toward the view. His old=fashioned boom box was playing lovely, soft music, and I thought he was reading, but it turned out he was writing in a journal. I had also pulled over at the overlook and got out of my car with my camera in my hands. “You look comfortable,” I said. “It’s our 50th anniversary,” he said, and I looked but I didn’t see another person. “We liked to come here”, he said, and he gestured to the empty chair and said, “She’s right there.”
She had died 7 months before, it was a blessing, he said. He said that he didn’t want to brag, but his wife was very talented. She baked and sewed, and she taught him to do those things too. He said that he has her sewing machine and he is finishing all her projects for her. They never let the sun set on an argument, he was proud of that. He said he would always apologize and she would always say that it was okay, and then she would always let it go. And they had had 10 children, it took him a while to mention that. He showed me their wedding picture. They were so young. And I thought of all that still lay ahead of them that day. He said that he was writing it all down, their whole story, from the day that they met. He was teary-eyed as he said these things, but he said that he knew that I would understand, and I did.
Skyline Drive was on my agenda from the day I left Florida in the first place. I wanted to see color, but this color wasn’t the colorful trip that I intended. I was going to try to be there for the fall scenery and I came close. And I had just complained about the twists and turns of the roads in PA, and there I was purposely choosing to travel on a 100+ mile road of nothing but twists, and turns, and mountains. But I was glad I was there today. It was the perfect day to be there, because it was the day I met Bob…
A Snowbird's Life Through the Lens 