Thanks to Barney R for the editing. As always, I had to mess with it some more. Therefore all mistakes and omissions are on me.

The final big argument ended when she told me her dance card was full.

My name is Robert Foster. I am 39, once widowed and married to Janice Susanne Foster (nee Wilcox). I am an even 6’ tall and weigh around 180 give or take 3 pounds. Jan is 32, petite, about 5’ 4” and probably weighs 105 lbs. with a brick in each hand. We met when I needed to sign up for some life insurance.

I am a day trader, and I am moderately successful. My winning percentage is between 40 and 45%. I specialize in penny stocks, so a winner can be mind-boggling and the losers do not hurt much.

Janice was the office manager of the agency that I went to for the insurance. I liked her demeanor, and how she acted with the other customers and the sales staff.

I literally bumped into her that weekend when I was doing my Saturday food shopping. I was looking for a couple of dinner salads and ran right into her cart when I was distracted. Luckily, she was coming toward me, because those carts do some major bruising on the back of your legs when they hit.

I apologized and we started talking. I told her to call me Bob and she laughed and blushed.

That confused me until she said she had BOB Jr. in a drawer in her nightstand. It took a second or two, but then I blushed real hard and got her back when I politely asked, “Is it plugin or battery operated?”

Her face was red but the laugh was beautiful. She asked me to call her Jan. We talked some more and I asked if she was free to date. When she said yes, I asked for her phone number. She gave it to me and then I asked if she would be available for a brunch buffet that one of the local hotels has every Sunday.

She thought for a second and said; “Not this week I am going to my mother’s, maybe a lunch during the week, but that buffet is something I always wanted to try, but not alone. Let’s plan for next Sunday after church.”

I responded; “Sounds like a plan. I will also take you to lunch this week. Is there any day that is better than the rest? If you would like, I will even accompany you to church.”

She asked me to call her Monday and she would then know the best day or days.

I liked the sound of that.

We went to lunch twice that week and then I took her to a play that Friday evening. The brunch was everything good I had heard about it. Jan is an excellent conversationalist, and I thoroughly enjoyed her company.

I had to take a business trip to investigate a small plant in the Atlanta area before I purchased any of their stock, so I was out of town for the next week.

I called Jan 4 times from my hotel, and we talked more and longer each time. When I returned on a Friday evening flight, she was there to pick me up.

“I missed you,” Jan said as she broke away from a scorching kiss and bear hug. “I know we have only known each other for a short time, but I feel very comfortable around you. I don’t want to sound too forward, but can we make a standing date for church and that brunch? If we can, maybe we want to make a standing date for Saturday dinners at my place followed by a movie or just conversation and music.”

I said, “Sounds like a very good plan.”

We dated from then on. I found out that she had been left standing at the altar when her fiancé decided to rob a liquor store and was caught in the act. She went on to explain that she had a phase in her life where she was attracted to ‘bad boys’. She further said that the phase was over.

I told her of my wife and unborn son who had been killed when an out of control car struck them. I told her how for over two years I walked in a fog of confusion and grief.

We had been dating and enjoying a ‘friends with benefits’ relationship for about 5 months when Jan asked me where I saw our relationship going.

I told her; “I want to be exclusive, and I know only one fair way to do that. Janice Susanne Wilcox, will you honor me by becoming my wife?”

She looked shocked and confused for a brief instant then squealed; “Yes, yes, yes. I will be your wife. I want you for my husband.”

I took Jan to a local jeweler and purchased a triple set of rings, a lady’s wedding band, a man’s band, and a beautiful engagement ring. Of course I went with Jan’s choice. I also moved the wedding band that I had been wearing to my right hand as a remembrance of my late wife.

The meet the family sessions were sort of funny, my family is warped, and my brother gave me a ration of crap for “grabbing all the beautiful ladies.” My sister said that Jan was a winner and that I was lucky to have found someone who helped me out of my funk.

Jan’s family was as down to earth as my family, and I liked her parents and younger sister, Judy, immediately.

The three women Jan, Judy, and Mom (as I called her by mistake) went into frantic planning mode.

I wisely did the 3 S’s Shut up, Shell out, Show up.

Jan was a beautiful bride, Judy was the Maid of Honor and my brother was my Best Man.

We went to Hong Kong for our honeymoon. I had been there on one of my research trips and loved it. We had an out of the way nice hotel on Boundary Rd. It was just north of the main shopping district in Kowloon. Jan was fascinated by the open-air food market and all of the shops on Nathan Rd.

I bought a nice medium-sized house on 4 acres about 3 miles outside of town and we moved in there.

Jan continued to work in the insurance office, and we were happy as we hoped for. About a year after we were married Jan asked if we should start a family.

I was surprised and pleased. I asked her if she was sure. She was adamant that she was.

My next comment was, “Let’s start practicing.” and I picked her ran to our bedroom and tossed her laughing into the middle of our bed.

We practiced, and we practiced and about 8 months later, the strip turned blue. Jan was in heaven, and I strutted around like I was totally responsible.

About four months later the bubble burst, Jan went for a check-up and the doctor told her that she could not detect any growth from the last check-up. Jan was scared, and when the Dr. told her she was going to admit her to the hospital for more tests, Jan panicked and called me.

When the test came back, the results were that the fetus was dead and that the Drs. needed to do a D&C to remove the corpse so it would not affect the mother.

We had a small family funeral for the child, and Jan went into serious mourning for about 6 months. When she started coming out of that we were hit by another medical shock. A follow-up check-up discovered that the D&C had damaged the uterine wall to the point where Jan had to have a hysterectomy.

Jan actually handled that very well. For a couple of months I tried to be extra attentive but got a stern; “Stop smothering me. I love you and know I can rely on you for all the support I need. I will survive, and we will be together always.”

The doctor that performed the D&C and the hospital threw many dollars with a lot of 0s behind them to settle the lawsuit that Jan and I filed.

Life seemed to be great for two more years then Jan’s office decided to open a new office in the large city about 45 minutes away. That office was to be twice as large as the one in our town. They had partnered with an agency in that city and asked Jan to be the manager of that office, or they told her she could be in charge of both offices with almost twice the pay she was then getting. She took the job of overall management and was now considered an executive.

She spent 3 days each week at the big office and Monday and Friday at the office in town. She complained of the commute to the city but said she loved her job.

Then the overtime in the city started. She was staying in the city a couple of times a month and the complaints about the commute stopped.

I asked Jan what was going on that she had to work so many hours and evenings in the city.

She shut me down and said it was work. Our once happy home became a frozen cave, and any sex was out of the question.

I put up with it for about 6 months and then told Jan that we were taking a month-long vacation and would be totally out of touch with her office.

She refused to even consider it until I said “Fine, I’ll go and if you haven’t straightened your work problems out, I won’t be back.”

Jan was really furious then, and said, “Go on your fucking trip, I am not going. When you come back, I may be gone.”

Well, I went on the trip, actually to my parent’s home, visited my sister’s and brother’s families, and generally reconnected with them. I did not take my cell phone, and I did not call Jan. I also made sure that my money was moved so that if Jan was gone, she couldn’t touch it. I made it appear as if I took a flyer on a small company and lost all of it.