The Nine Lessons by Kevin Alan Milne Read Free Book Online Page B

climate—I would suffer golf withdrawals during the long winters. Assuming there are no major delays, I should arrive at my destination by tomorrow.

    February 14, 1973—Valentine’s Day! And what a perfect day it has been. Jessalynn was completely shocked when she opened the door to find me on her doorstep. I had not told her I was coming, so she was beginning to think I had lost interest in a long-distance relationship and that I was avoiding her calls. Actually, she was right—which is why I took measures to shorten the distance between us from miles to inches. I don’t wish to put words in her mouth, but based on how tight she hugged me, she was glad I’d come. Our reunion was very nice, but really just a prelude to what happened later in the evening during dinner: Cupid must’ve had his arrows pointed straight at my heart today, because while we were waiting for our waiter to bring dessert, I asked her to marry me! No ring, no knee—just a whim and a prayer.
    Jessalynn is the smartest woman I’ve ever known, and so in typical left-brained fashion she weighed her options carefully, methodically measuring the plusses and minuses of accepting the proposal (she even asked the waiter for a pen and paper so she could jot down notes and make a list). In the end, her decision required a little more information from me. “Will you always love me?” she asked. I said that I would. “Will you put me first in your life, even ahead of golf?” I answered affirmatively. “Then,” she said, throwing all caution and planning and mature decision-making out the window, “let’s go to Atlantic City tonight. If we apply for a license tomorrow morning, we can be married in seventy-two hours! I can’t wait to become Mrs. London Witte!”

    February 18, 1973—Are only fools allowed to rush in? No, sane people can rush in, too, but only when the love they share is real. The love I feel for my wife is the realest, purest thing I’ve ever felt in all my life. We were married this morning in a simple ceremony at a wedding chapel. Jessalynn’s parents were not overly thrilled with the news, but they came down from Vermont anyway to support their “headstrong” daughter. Jessalynn is asleep beside me on our first night as husband and wife. I can hardly believe that she is mine. After she fell asleep tonight I knelt and thanked God that Jessalynn and I needed shoes on the same day.

    March 15, 1973—Life just keeps getting better! The university has awarded Jessalynn a research stipend, which will help keep us afloat through the rest of this semester. I am also working hard to help provide some income; I’ve found a sales job at a large golf shop in Trenton. It doesn’t pay well, but they have a large room inside where I can hit balls to work on my swing. I can’t wait for the heavy spring rains to let off, so I can get back on an actual golf course.

    April 20, 1973—Life happens too bloody fast! After a long bus ride home tonight from work, I entered the apartment to find Jessalynn crying on the couch. There was a brown paper bag full of vomit on the floor next to her. I thought maybe she had the flu. She was reluctant to tell me that it is not a sickness that will go away any time soon—Jessalynn is pregnant. I am ecstatic about it, but she is very nervous. She feels ill prepared to take on motherhood. What’s more, if her department finds out about it she will likely lose her scholarship, but the way things look right now, that won’t matter much anyway. The semester ends in a few weeks, and at that time we will go to stay with her parents in Vermont. Jessalynn is trying to be stoic and positive about it all, but I think deep down she realizes that the child she carries is bringing a much sooner end to her days at Princeton than she had planned.

CHAPTER 7

    Golf puts man’s character to the anvil and his richest qualities—patience, poise, and restraint—to the flame.
    —Billy Casper
    O ne week after my first