May 17
I have always thought that love is a gift, never to be taken for granted and should bring happiness, even in times of trouble. Love makes life worth living! That sounds pretty simple and naive, but true for Dave and I.
WDHS band trip to Washington in May1980. Just before this trip I had broken up with my first real boyfriend of 6 months. Before you judge me, that’s a very long time when you’re 15! I still can’t believe that my parents allowed me to date at 15 but let’s just say I dated enough to distinguish between the good and bad. Before you judge me again, I was 13 when I first met Dave. He worked at a farm beside my parents and even stayed at our house once when his parents went on vacation. I will never forget that moment. I would make excuses to visit him at the pig barn... Bahaha, now that's true love! He was in high school and likely had many options and clearly I was NOT one of them.
Back to the band trip, my good friend and I had sworn off men forever and decided to just have fun on this trip! I played trombone in the band, yes a girl who played trombone, just like her brother, just like her first boyfriend and just like Dave. I was better than Dave but let’s just say practicing trombone was not my focus!
Dave and I had shared the same music stand for 9 months and he didn’t even notice me. It wasn’t until we were drinking beer on the lawn of the Washington monument the night before returning home, that he noticed. On the way back to the dorms he reached out to hold my hand…OMG, really, I thought? I will never forget that moment. We sat together on the trip home too!
I had a few girls tell me that there was no way I would date Dave Snell and I likely thought I wouldn’t either but he reached to hold my hand and upon returning back to school he actually called me (all other girlfriends asked him out) to go to a movie on May 17, 1980. We went to see Bad News Bears. He was a really fun and nice guy. He dropped me off at home and yes we had our first kiss. Another moment I will never forget. Dave told me years later that standing in my parents house after that first date he thought to himself, “well, I guess I might as well kiss her…” I am very happy he did.
Happy 17 Buddy,
Thank you for 14,235 days, 20,598,000 moments. I look forward to many more.
I love you.