Los Angeles Times - 09.11.2019

I

’d come home from another
good day at my middle
school teaching job, but my
spirits sank as I opened the
front door to that hollow
feeling of an empty house.
As I checked the mail, I
found a large envelope addressed
to me by hand. Hmmm. Never got
many of those. It was from Jere
Johnson, a name I didn’t recognize.
I opened it to find several im-
pressive editions of a middle school
newspaper — the Bonita Vista
Scroll — with a note attached from
Jere. She introduced herself and
said we had many mutual friends
and that she had been given my
mailing address by a fellow teacher
named Phyllis. “I thought it might
be fun to share publications,” she
wrote. I too was a newspaper advis-
or, and as I glanced through the
school’s newspaper, I found Jere in
a photo. “Wow!” I thought.
The next day at school I tracked
down Phyllis: “So, who is Jere John-
son?”
“Jere!” she said gleefully. “She
would be perfect for you!”
Like all my pals, Phyllis was all
too aware that I had been alone for
many years after my divorce. It
wasn’t that bad when my daughter
was living at home, but at the time
she was in college back East. Phyl-
lis told me a bit about Jere. As it
turned out, Jere and I had much in
common. Both her daughters had
graduated from college and she too
was looking to start a new chapter
in her life.
I had spent time on Match.com
trying to find romance with some-
one my age, but after countless first
dates and few second dates, I de-
cided to give it a rest. I had been
alone for 15 years and sometimes
wondered if I was ever going to
meet that someone special.
I called Jere that night to thank
her for the newspapers. I shared
my enthusiasm for her publication
and we connected right away, as
teachers do. (We also commiser-
ated about the trials of middle
school teaching.)
Although I generally thought it
best to spend time getting to know
someone before risking rejection, in
this case I decided to give it a shot.
“I know this is short notice, but if

you happen to be free on Saturday

night, I’d like to take you out to

dinner,” I said, and suggested

finding a place in her neighborhood

in San Diego.

“I know just the spot,” she said,

and my evening brightened consid-

erably. Funny how everything takes

on a glow when you have a date for

the weekend.

Saturday night found me

knocking once again on a first-date

door. Nervous but not a wreck. If it

didn’t go well, life would go on. I

knew enough not to be taken in by

first impressions, but when the

door opened, I couldn’t help myself.

Prettier than her picture with a

warm, welcoming smile. So far, so

great.

We ended up tucked in at the

corner table at Volare in Point

Loma, and we spent the evening

getting to know each other. As baby

boomers, we had an instant con-

nection: We laughed about watch-

ing old western TV shows like

“Rawhide,” “Bonanza” and “Wagon

Train” and that we could still sing

their theme songs. As for popular

music, we grew up on Elvis and

matured with the Beatles.

Heck, our moms even cooked

the same dinners: meatloaf, spa-

ghetti, fish sticks, chicken pot pie

and roast beef on Sundays. We

discovered not only a shared past

but found out we liked the same

things: books, movies, plays, board

games, sports, travel and cross-

word puzzles.

Digging deeper, we realized we

both knew the pain of divorce, the

challenges of single parenting and

the sadness of lonely nights.

After our meal, I asked Jere, “Do

you like ice cream?”

The smile that was winning my

heart said it all. After two scoops

and even more intimate conversa-

tion at Baskin-Robbins, neither of

us wanted the evening to end. We

went back to her place to play

cribbage.

When it was finally time for me

to make the drive home, Jere men-

tioned she had tickets to a play at

the Old Globe theater in about a

month. Would I like to join her?

“Great! Just so you don’t make

me wait that long to see you again.”

A goodnight kiss sent me home

dreaming that

this might really

work.

The next few

dates involved a

walk on the bluff

at Torrey Pines

beach and a

visit to the

Getty. The play

turned out to be

a dud, but the

date itself was

good.

It didn’t take

me long to know

that Jere was

Mrs. Right. And

she seemed

taken with me.

The next hurdle

was the daugh-

ters — all out of

the house but very much in our

lives.

Fortunately, everyone hit it off.

Deep down, I think, they were

relieved we each had finally found

someone.

The last 20 years have been

bountiful. Jere and I led student

tours to Australia, Europe and

Central America and then sold our

condos to buy our dream house in

Point Loma before retiring.

We were blessed by each daugh-

ter’s marriage and now spend

weekdays helping our six grand-

children with schoolwork and

weekends at their sports games.

Every anniversary we marvel at

our good fortune by reenacting our

first date. We dine at Volare and

toast our good friend Phyllis for

bringing us together.

The author is a retired middle

school teacher in San Diego.

She was news to me. Good news

By Mike Sullivan

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