How Gregg and I met - Part 2

Gregg gave me the photos from his files. This is the ship we met on, HMS Ariadne. I am not sure if I mentioned its name in the first part of my story but it played a very important part in our lives.

The night of the official welcoming party had arrived and I had been kicking myself since I had agreed to go. They were dress-up affairs. Fortunately I already had a long dress with matching shoes and a purse. It wasn't a very memorable dress as I didn't put a lot of thought into choosing it, my least favorite bit of clothing but I certainly wasn't going to spend my hard-earned cash on a new outfit, especially as I felt I was under duress. It had a high neckline in a brown and beige pattern and a gypsy-like style which seemed to be the fashion. Unfortunately I don't have a picture of it, probably just as well. That attitude you know as I can at times be a bit stubborn, like a dog with a bone, just ask Gregg. Yes I am painting a delightful picture of myself but he was happily oblivious and didn't know what was in store for him. Neither did I.

Mary and Rob picked me up and I was trying not to outwardly show how grumpy I was. I loved Mary and Rob. They were a dear couple a few years older than me. We drove down to the harbor in Torquay, they parked their car and we had a short walk to meet the boat that would take us over to the ship. I think I mentioned in my previous post that it was anchored in the middle of the bay.

To Mary and sounding a little worried I said, "I hope it isn't going to be like last time." The water had been so choppy the steps had been taken in at the side of the ship - if I remember correctly it was a bit smaller than the one we were heading for - and we had to climb up a Jacob's ladder hanging over it. I was horrified as looking up from the little boat to the big 'boat' it looked such a height, that I remember saying to myself that this was positively and unequivocally the last mayor's cocktail party I was ever going on. Have you ever tried to step off a heavily bobbing boat to climb up a Jacob's ladder in high heels? If you have you know what I'm talking about, it's flipping scary! If you knew me you would know this was an amazing thing to do on my part. Not only do I have a fear of water I have a fear of heights, but back then the fear of embarrassment at making a fool of myself was even worse. Someone even had the audacity to put a hand on my bum to give me a push up and I heard that person laugh. I didn't know who the hand belonged to, suffice to say that if I hadn't have been so terrified of turning around and looking down, they would have had a look that would have seared through steel. Gregg didn't believe me when I told him this happened to us. We were a little late and the mayor had been on board for quite a while. I'm sure he didn't have to go through such an undignified arrival and for the life of me I couldn't figure out why on earth they expected this of us. All night I was praying that the sea would be calm when we left. Fortunately it was. But here we were heading for another ship and somewhere on that ship Gregg was waiting for me, though obviously neither of us knew it at the time.

At the harbor we were wondering where the official little blue boat was that would take us over. No little blue boat but there was a bit of a smelly fishing boat that I was trying to ignore because that sinking feeling came back again. The nice man whose boat it was - sorry about the 'smelly fishing boat' remark but it did, smell that is, of mackerel. It was a mackerel boat. Of course it was smelly even though that very nice man had cleaned it from top to bottom, it was still smelly. I promise you I am not knocking the fishing boat industry, I was just a bit delicate back in those days, and did I mention it was smelly?

Well, the nice man walked up to us and told us that he would be transporting us to the ship 'over there'. Neither Mary nor I had poker faces and I'm sorry to say I think our mouths dropped open, and I am sure I heard Rob in the background chuckling. The mayor and his official party had had dibs on the little blue boat and we were left with this one. Lovely! All the ladies were worried about their long evening gowns and I was trying to look down discretely to see if there was a possibility, just a possibility you understand, of catching my heel in a forgotten stray mackerel. All the men thought it was a hoot and were having a jolly good time of it. All the ladies were worried that they might be picking up the aroma of eau de mackerel. All the men didn't give a hoot as long as there was an an alcoholic drink at the end of the trip. There was! I was ready for one too after that boat ride. I seem to remember having to hang onto a pole because even though it wasn't very choppy, it was still a small boat bouncing over the waves. And on top of that the salt spray was stinging my eyes. And I agreed to this? I was still kicking myself for not saying no. I don't think Mary was too happy at that point. We got on board without incident, and again discretely gave ourselves the sniff test, asking Rob quietly if he could give us the once over with his nose. He was still chuckling. Apparently he didn't think we were serious. I don't have a great sense of smell but there was no denying that a mackerel might as well have been stuffed up my nose because I kept smelling it all night. Fortunately by then there were other things to take my mind off it. Somewhere along the way Mary and I whipped a brush out of our purses and quickly put it through our hair to tidy up a bit and prayed to God we hadn't picked up that delightful aroma.

Once on board we were escorted into the wardroom. It was very crowded with shoulder to shoulder people, hot and muggy and lots of cigarette smoke. The smoke took my mind of the you-know-what but I was beginning to feel incredibly queasy and Rob got me a tot of brandy to settle my tum. It helped. A nice person with a 'funny' accent asked Rob what he would like to drink and I heard, "Mine's a double!" I think we were all ready for a double by then. I spotted an opening on a bench seat and zoned in on it and I stayed there all night. I was consciously aware of a body in dress blues sitting uncomfortably close, far too close for my liking but he was talking to people on his left unaware of me, and I was quite happy to melt into my anonymity. I chatted with a couple of people on my right but I wasn't very good at small talk and thankfully Mary and Rob were there to save the day. I can be a great listener. I nibbled on an appetizer but it might as well have been a cracker with an enormous mackerel tail sticking out of it. I didn't touch another bite all night.

There I was in my contentment of not being noticed and then as the evening got longer people were leaving and the 'dress blues' with the 'funny' accent turned round and stared at me. I noticed the movement, turned my head, he smiled and said, "Hello, my name is Gregg." Gregg with the 'funny' accent that now the crowd and the noise had dissipated, I recognized as an American one. I fell in love with him on the spot and those two years of typing up horrible divorce cases disappeared into oblivion. I just stared at him and smiled back, I can't even remember if I told him my name but that's how I met Gregg. We talked for another two hours when I felt a tap on my shoulder and Mary was saying it was time to go. Gregg said to her and to me that if I would like to talk a little longer he would be happy to see me home. I said, "Oh yes, that would be lovely. Thank you!" I ignored Mary's shocked look as she said, "Are you sure?" as she swiveled her eyes to the side of her head indicating that she and Rob were really leaving. I said, "Yes I'm sure, I'll be fine, you can go now." The look on her face was priceless. She was probably saying, "Daft bat!" Once again I was saying no to her and I suppose this time she knew there was no dissuading me. I felt a bit naughty but well, she started it all.

From Gregg I found out that he was on an exchange tour with the Royal Navy, that his tour was almost up and he was due to leave for America in two weeks. He had a month's vacation planned and was going to spend it with his family in Virginia. We talked for another hour and he was true to his word, when we reached shore he called a taxi and took me home, dropping me off at my door at about three o'clock in the morning. He said he would like to call me and I gave him my number and I thought that was that, he would be going home soon and I would probably never see him again. I was very sad at the thought of it but there you go, you have to be realistic, and then I thought to myself as I watched the taxi go down the hill, I've never felt like this before, how strange.

The following evening was the night I had arranged to meet up with the group of friends from the hospital at a nightclub in Torquay. Who should I bump into but one of Gregg's friends. Gregg had introduced me to him after we had started talking. The friend recognized me and I introduced him to my friends. They got along great. He said, "Why don't you all come back to the ship for a few drinks?" My friends said what a great idea, we'd love to. He had told me that Gregg had the duty and couldn't leave the ship but he knew he would want to see me. Well, that's what did it. Caution to the winds, I was heading again for the middle of the bay on a bumpy little boat ride - not a smelly one this time - and at the top of the steps there was Gregg waiting with another big smile. We stayed for another couple of hours and we all left having had a great time. I had a great time. I was amazed at what a great time I had had.

Early next morning the phone rang and it was Gregg telling me that he had managed to get the day off. I hadn't had a lot of sleep but I happily picked him up at the harbor in my precious and old rusty grey mini, and we went for a ride over Dartmoor. The car had a leak in the radiator and it barely made it over the hills. I was continuously carrying large bottles of water around with me to fill the radiator. I knew it had to go into the garage but I had been putting it off. It all added to the fun of the day believe it or not. With the patience of a saint, Gregg carefully filled the radiator up several times, but on our next date - wise man - he rented a car and picked me up, as he did on all subsequent dates.

Gregg told me the ship was leaving for a short trip to Flensburg, Germany and he would be gone for about a week. On his return his tour would be up and he was going back to the States. When he dropped me off I thought well, that's that and I again felt very sad. Imagine my surprise when the phone rang a few days later and it was someone telling me I had a call from the middle of the English Channel. It was Gregg on a radio. I had never talked on a two-way radio before. I actually had to say "over" at the end of every conversation. He had to remind me to say "over" a few times. It was a little strange but fun and exciting to be talking to him knowing he was actually at sea. He told me that he would be back in a few days and that the month he was going to spend in the States, would I like it if he spent it with me instead. I wasn't sad any more, I was ecstatically happy and I said quite calmly, "Oh yes, that would be very nice, 'over'". It's a good job he couldn't see me jumping up and down after that phone call, there was such a crazy jig going on in the hallway. He might have thought it prudent to head for the hills. I like to think our Golden Labrador Jason was happy for me too. He was jumping up and down right along with me and his tail was wagging furiously. I am sure he was also thinking he was going to get a treat. He was right and I happily fed him extra dog biscuits all night.

When Gregg came back we spent every moment together and I found out that he was the kindest, dearest person I had ever met. I lived with my Mom and Dad and they knew that this was different and they liked him immediately. This young man was definitely 'their cup of tea'.

After two weeks Gregg and I were sitting watching a village cricket match. Time was moving on and he was due to start a new job at the Pentagon. We were talking about me going over to the States in the Spring several months away, but the thought of leaving each other for any length of time at that point was decidedly painful. We just hated the thought of having to say goodbye. In the end he said, "What do you think about getting married now?" I was a bit stunned and a bit hesitant but over the moon, and you know what my answer was. Shortly after he asked my Dad permission to marry me and Dad said "Yes, for God's sake take this girl off my hands." Not really but Dad being of the old school was impressed that Gregg asked for my hand in marriage the old fashioned way and Mom and Dad gave us their blessing. We decided that we would get married in December. No, we didn't get married immediately, we had to wait the three months but at least we knew after that we would be together forever.

Gregg left to start his job and I went shopping for a wedding dress. He came back with his mom, dad and sister and we got married on December 17th, 1975 and I found myself in a different world three days later. Gregg was driving his step-grandfather Johnny's old car which he had left at the airport and it was like a tank, it was huge. We drove to our apartment in Alexandria late at night in the kind of traffic I had never seen before in my little village. The roads were so small if you came across a car you had to back up a mile down a curvy little lane, until you found a farmer's gate you could slide into to let the other car pass. I had never been in six lane traffic before and that was just on one side of the road. All the cars seemed huge and with what seemed like thousands of lights flashing by, my eyes were dazzled. I sank a little deeper into the seat as it was all a bit scary. However, that overly cautious, picky little turnip had upped stakes and moved to America. My friends were nice about it but shocked as they thought I had totally gone off my rocker. I told them it was Gregg's eyes that did it. The first time I looked into them I just knew and here we are, celebrating our 34th wedding anniversary.

I have never gone into such detail before. One day I think our son will be glad that I did. I have always wished I knew the complete story of how my own parents met. At a young age you don't think to ask and if it's one piece of advice I would give to anyone, find out as much as you can about your family while you can, get them to write it down or better still take a video, it's easier on them. Take time out to listen to those wonderful stories from your older relatives. Many are waiting for you to ask and it will make the light shine in their eyes remembering the good times, and it is important to remember the bad times too if they are willing to share it. It is much better than going to a movie because this is a part of who you are. This story of how his Mom and Dad met is another gift for our son and maybe one day for our grandchildren.

Gigantic ramble "over".