The Empty Chair, Part 3, Falling in Love

I've worn myself out this weekend, and it will be an early night.

It's been five months since my hubby passed away. It seems like forever and it seems like yesterday. I needed time, but I was finally ready to clean out his office this weekend. Our former guest room is now my sewing room, so I'm going to turn the office into a guest room. It will be nice to have a place where visitors can stay.

It took all weekend, but the desk, the bookcase and all the drawers of files have been sorted through and emptied. I moved important things to empty drawers in the bedroom, and listed the office furniture for sale on Craigslist.

Moving furniture around, emptying and filling drawers, and carrying boxes up and down the stairs, was tiring enough, but sorting through his things was the hardest part of it all.  Fred had tucked away little things that meant something to him, and I found several boxes of small treasures. This mug rug was in one of them.

So many of my designs stem from something in my own life experiences. I named this mug rug "Winter Romance", and  I gave it to Fred for Christmas shortly after I made it. The design was all about the winter we met.

It was in January of my junior year University of Colorado in Boulder. On the first day back from Christmas vacation, I was sitting in the student union with a friend after our last classes for the day. The room was filled with people escaping the cold and snow outside. Marty and I found it almost impossible to carry on a conversation with all the shouting and laughing from students just back from a two week break. The fragrances of wet wool and hot coffee permeated the air.

A couple of tables away from us a group of several boys was crowded around a very small table. They were all talking at the same time and laughing over something. I may not have noticed them were it not for my friend, Marty. "Don't look like your looking, but look at those boys," she said, nodding at their table. "One of them keeps looking at  you."  I glanced that direction, and I'm sure I blushed. She was right. "He can't take his eyes off you," she said. "He's really, really cute! I'm so jealous!"

"He's okay," I said nonchalantly. "Nothing special." I tugged my skirt down to in an effort to hide my legs better. Skirts were short in 1963. I had lied when I said he was "okay".  He had curly black hair, twinkling brown eyes, and a beautiful smile. He was wearing a hand knit, golden yellow wool sweater over a black turtleneck. Yes, I noticed what he was wearing, and I can still picture it as if it were yesterday. I was dressed in blue, in case you were wondering. Some things stick. But, back to Fred. He was so much more than just okay. He was the most gorgeous young man I'd ever seen! I proceeded to pointedly ignore him, but I couldn't get him out of my head for the rest of the evening.

The next day I went back to the student union during a mid-morning break between classes. The union was almost empty, so I sat at a table for eight by the window where I could watch the snow coming down and people rushing by.

"Excuse me," a voice interrupted. I looked up to see the same beautiful boy from yesterday. He looked around the almost empty room as if searching for a place to sit. "Is this seat taken?" He pointed to a chair directly across from me. His eyes sparkled with humor. I laughed out loud.

We talked with the ease of people who had known each other forever. There was so much to discuss, but we both needed to get back to class. We made a date to meet at the union for lunch the next day.

I was several minutes late arriving at the union for our lunch date on Wednesday. It was bitterly cold, and the wind was blowing fiercely. I couldn't believe that Fred was waiting outside in the cold for me. The first thing I noticed were his ears. He wasn't wearing a hat, and his ears were bright red. His hands were stuffed deep in his pockets, and he looked half frozen. You may have noticed that the snowman in the mug rug wears no hat. Now you know why.

We were inseparable from the on. The rest of the winter was magical. The Boulder campus was even more beautiful than usual. Some of the wonder was from the deep white snow that we trudged through and turned into snowballs, but most of the beauty came from the two of us. Was it love at first sight? Fred always said he was in love from that first glimpse of me across the crowded room, but it took longer for me to know that he was the one - at least until the end of the first week.

I'm putting the mug rug  carefully away as a reminder of the winter we fell in love.