H. L. Wegley – Real Life Romance – Part 1 of 1

Shannon here: Romantic Suspense/Thriller author, H. L. Wegley shares how he met his wife plus a chance to win a copy of his latest release, Triple Threat. Comment or answer the question at the end of the post to enter the drawing. Deadline: Dec 6th, 11:59 pm central time. Here’s H. L.:

How My Wife and I Met – H L Wegley
I was born in Fresno, California at the very cusp of the baby boom. 60 days later and 60 miles away, she was born. A year later, both our parents, and my grandparents, all moved to the same rural, Southern Oregon community, only a country block apart. Coincidence? You decide.
My first memories of her start when we were 3. We played together some because she was the only kid in our neighborhood my age. I distinctly remember her in my 1st grade class, a girl who was rather quiet, short, pudgy, and freckle-faced with short, kinky red hair. Those memories are vivid because my uncle, Benny, only 5 years older than me, teased me mercilessly about her.
When Benny was 11, he shinnied up to the top of the neighborhood climbing tree, a mammoth Laurel, and carved our initials, AA + BW. He went clear through the bark and into the sapwood of that tree. I said I’d kill him, and I might have if I’d been able to catch him. I’d never heard the warnings in the Bible about swearing oaths so, I swore that, as soon as I was big enough, I’d shinny up that limbless stretch of tree trunk and cut those initials out. I moved to another school district during the 2nd grade. I didn’t see this girl for a while. Consequently, my uncle, more like a big brother to me, found other ways to torment me. Big brothers are like that.
Fast-forward 5 years. With my hunting knife in its sheath on my belt, I started the assault on the big Laurel, and I made the climb all the way to the top only to discover the portion of tree trunk holding our initials had grown 3 times larger, as had the initials, and the letters had become so much a part of the tree, the old Laurel didn’t want to give them up.
Something else happened a couple of weeks later. This girl’s parents came to visit my grandparents while I was also there. An 11-year-old girl, with a sprinkling of freckles across her cheeks and nose, stood watching me. But there had been changes, big changes. Short and pudgy had been replaced with 5-foot-8 and slender. Short, kinky curly red hair was now a dark brown ponytail hanging nearly to her waist that only shined red when the sun lit it. And she wasn’t quiet anymore. I was shy, and at a mere 5-feet-4, she towered above me, scaring me away … for a few years.
Shortly before I overcame my fear, the county decided to put in a new road. The Laurel tree was going to be executed without a trial and without appeal. Soon the tree lay dead in a series of fireplace-length chunks of wood. The children and young adults who had climbed the tree cried and mourned for weeks. Had I suspected my Uncle Benny’s prophecy might actually come true, I would have rescued that chunk of wood with our initials on it. But I had no idea that my aunt, only 4 years older than me—Benny’s little sister—would soon suggest that I take this girl to the county fair. So, the chunk of wood with our initials on it went up in smoke, through somebody’s chimney. But the fire and the smoke didn’t take the prophecy with them.
Well, I took my aunt’s advice and asked the girl to the fair. To my surprise, she said yes, and I won her a big bear. After a year of courting and a year of being engaged, we were married. It’s now 50 years after that first date, and she still has that bear. Like us, he’s a little worse for wear. Forty-eight years of marriage, three kids, 15 addresses, and a few major surgeries can do that. Oh, yes … my Uncle Benny stood with me as AA + BW said their vows.
In case you’re wondering, the girl’s name was Arlene. Still is. But, like her sisters, she goes by her nickname, Babe. After all these years, it still fits.
About H. L.: H. L. Wegley served in the USAF as an Intelligence Analyst and a Weather Officer. In civilian life he performed research in atmospheric physics. After earning an MS in Computer Science, he worked 20+ years in systems development at Boeing before retiring near Seattle, where he and his wife of 48 years enjoy small-group ministry, grandchildren, hiking on the Olympic Peninsula, snorkeling Maui whenever possible, and where he writes inspirational thrillers and romantic suspense novels. Learn more and connect: Author web site: http://HLWegley.com, Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/HLWegley, Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/H.-L.-Wegley/e/B00B1XMR56, Twitter: https://twitter.com/hlwegley, Google + :
About the book – Triple Threat:
Brilliant, beautiful, 21-year-old Katie Brandt, PhD candidate and woman of faith, detects a deadly conspiracy. Suspecting it’s only the tip of an iceberg, she dives in, pulling fellow grad student, Joshua West, with her into a high-risk investigation of a cyber-terrorist plot. Damaged by the foster-care system, Katie takes huge risks to win acceptance and love. But when she risks Josh’s life, an agnostic, who isn’t prepared to die, she fears her mistake might have eternal consequences for Josh, a mistake that could break Katie’s heart, a heart rapidly falling for Josh.
Will Katie and Josh survive the investigation? If they do, can they ever span the chasm of divergent worldviews that separates them? How can they awaken a dozing nation to a three-pronged danger that threatens its very existence?
Triple Threat, an adventure that spans the Pacific Northwest from the shores of the Olympic Peninsula to the mountains of Whistler, BC, a conspiracy you might read in tomorrow’s paper, but pray you never will.
Question: Is there anyone in your life you met during childhood who’s not family? Romantic or a friend.

Come back Dec 1st for Valerie Comer!