I met George in 2018, both recently widowed, on Match.com. We spent the next 2 years attending country music shows, car and truck shows, a trip to Colorado. We’d attend Sunday ‘matinees’ at a tiny pub in Tonganoxie, KS to enjoy the country entertainer of the week. We spent many evenings at my house, enjoying dinner, tv movies in the living room, and the company of my 3 dogs. The dogs knew immediately we’d found a good friend.
After an early winter of too much snow and ice, I received an email from George asking if I’d consider moving into his house. It took me a week to pack up and do that. We sat out the pandemic together. George couldn’t get by the week without putting on his mask and heading to the grocery store.
Our first car show after that was in a parking garage at 115th and Nall where we had to allow an empty spot between each car. I was new to car shows when I met George. He was looking for his next truck which turned out to be his ‘72 Chevy. I dropped my jaw when I saw it the first time. My family had a new one exactly like it in 1972. Ours was eventually replaced by a 1977 Chevy 4WD. Seeing George’s truck was like a giant step into the past.
We had a quiet, peaceful life together with George’s cat, Pebbles and my dog, Mickey. Cats are pretty independent, but Mickey soon became best buddies with George. I’d tease him about alienating my dog’s affections. We made a good decision to move to Tallgrass Creek after the pandemic. Pebbles left us last September. Mickey waited at the door for George to come back. On Friday we said goodbye to George. On Saturday I sent Mickey to live with my son and family at Tonganoxie. She can chase squirrels again. George had a large group waiting to welcome him home.
George spent a couple of hours each day on the Stovebolt forums or filling his calendar with car shows the next season. Each of you was important in his life.
