Pleased to Meet You, Guess My Name

In the autumn of 1970, a young lady and her friends were bantering about good-naturedly in this building. They were part of a college weekend retreat, and I happened to be in the area visiting my parents who lived near there. I had seen her around school, but did not know her name. When the opportunity presented itself, I introduced myself: “Hi, I am Howard.” She responded, “Well, I’m the good Fairy.” I replied, “I know you are, but what’s your name?” The nonverbal communication that followed led me to realize that, yes, Fairy was indeed her name. I mumbled something like, “Nice to meet you.” and wandered off thinking that I could never keep up with someone like that.

Obviously I must not have left much of an impression since later, back at college, she introduced me to one of her friends as “Don.” I responded by looking around and stating: “I don’t see a Don, do you see a Don?” My nearby friend replied, “Nope, I don’t see a Don, either.” I figured she would never speak to me again after that.

A couple months later I mustered the courage to ask her for a date, and to my surprise she said yes. A little over a year later we were married. Now, after more than half a century together, I know that my very first impression of her was totally correct, I can’t keep up with her, but it has been a heck of a lot of fun trying.