Glenn Dobbs

May 44 min read

In My Eyes

May 2024

“We said we'd walk together, baby, come what may

That come the twilight, should we lose our way

If as we're walking, a hand should slip free

I'll wait for you, and should I fall behind, wait for me

We swore we'd travel, darlin', side by side

We'd help each other stay in stride

But each lover's steps fall so differently

But I'll wait for you, and if I should fall behind, wait for me

Now there's a beautiful river in the valley ahead

There 'neath the oak's bough, soon we will be wed

Should we lose each other in the shadow of the evening trees

I'll wait for you, and should I fall behind, wait for me”

-Bruce Springsteen

During our last trip I really began to notice how much shorter my stride had become. Commonly we would get on streets or trails and we would have to walk in file to negotiate the narrow paths. I would often stop to take pictures and you would go on ahead.

But that was not as much the case this time. As I have aged, my frozen hamstring muscles and low back pain has caused me to develop a more shuffling gait. I tire easily and it’s not unusual for you to get farther ahead as I fall behind..

As we approached the fourth mile of our hike to the Fitz Roy peak in Patagonia, I was reaching the end of my stamina. Not only had I fallen behind, but I was unsure if I could complete the journey.

You looked back and saw me. You stopped and waited patiently on a bench overlooking the valley. You never teased, or mocked my inability to keep up. You just smiled , held out your hand and waited until my breath slowed and the desire to press on returned.

And I loved you for it.

All of us know couples that have been together awhile. But after a certain point “awhile” is no longer a satisfactory adverb. You cross into genuine history.

This May we celebrate our 40th wedding anniversary.

As we approach half a century, our memories of times apart are very few compared to the times we have walked together.

Consider these mile markers along the journey. When we started dating there were no cell phones, internet, or texting. If I wanted to see Colleen I had to take the remarkable step of going to find her.

When we met the number one song on the radio was Dolly Parton’s “9-5”. To purchase the entire album on cassette was $7.00.

One of Paul Newman’s last films, “Fort Apache The Bronx” dominated the box office with the new invention of twin move screens at theaters. The cost of a ticket was $3.50. We were still two years away from learning if Darth Vader was actually Luke’s father.

A new average home was around $70,000 and Ronald Reagan was running for President for the first time. If you were fashionable you wore leg warmers, shoulder pads, and sported a fanny pack. After work we hurried home to watch Dallas, Three’s Company, or Mash on one of only three network TV stations. VCR’s were still an expensive new thing not many people owned. “God Emperor of Dune” - the fourth book in the classic series had just been published.

John Lennon had just been shot only a few weeks ago. The cost of a first class stamp was raised to 18 cents, Prince of Wales Charles asked the Lady Diana Spenser for her hand in marriage.

And Americans were being held hostage in a place no one had ever heard of, Iran, and were just now being freed. It was the first any of us had ever heard of Islamic terrorism.

More than just a little time has passed.

Into this wedge of history we started our journey together. We followed my long school program and subsequent career that took us to places that were far out of our home experiences.

We were nervous yet thrilled to step off. We would travel far together; so far from our narrow and limited childhoods. We did not know what was going to be around each corner, We handled the many challenges we faced with our hands clasped.

You led the way. With grace and loving patience you showed that taking each step one at a time and holding onto each other tightly, we would thrive. We created our own history.

The boys came and filled our lives for twenty plus years. What a joy to see the fine men they have become, each now with families of their own. We traveled around the world and witnessed things we never dreamed of seeing when our journey began

There was one fundamental proposition to which we never wavered.. We would walk together. And if one of us fell behind, we would wait for them.

I could not be more content, more happy, and more deeply in love.

Forty years. It seems like just yesterday when we first met.

The other day you were lamenting the changes you saw in mirror. You were feeling older and felt your youthful glow was fading.

I did not understand why you felt that way. You are so beautiful.

In my eyes you are still the beautiful vibrant girl whose hand I grasped that warm March night when we went for a walk to get ice cream. I was absurdly confident with that move. I had no idea then how wonderful the years to come would be.

Your eyes are clear, bright, and lovely to behold. And your touch is still warm, caressing, loving, and precious to me.

Your charm, wit, natural grace, and passion has never diminished. The lovely woman who walked down the aisle to me in that small chapel is still with me every day. I am so grateful.