Although the marriage had fallen apart a long time ago it had been just a bit over a year and a half since Jack and I had separated and at last my divorce was now final. It was a difficult and lonely 18 months living in our large house with my two children, but then again it had been a difficult and lonely 6 or 7 years living with someone who started the day's drinking as he brushed his teeth in the morning! Now in addition to going to work every day to make ends meet I also had all the responsibilities of being a single parent.
I had just come over to the United States from Germany where I met Jack at the start of our junior year in college when we were both quite young. He was the ultimate college jock and he swept me off my feet. We were married just after our junior year. It wasn't until after the children were born, perhaps too early in our marriage, that I realized Jack had a serious drinking problem. Of course there were the usual "beer blasts" at school, but after we graduated the drinking not only didn't let up it became more frequent and more intense - actually escalating from beer to whatever cheap hard liquor was available. Al-Anon helped me a bit, but the strain became simply too much and I finally accepted that for my own sake and the sake of my children I just had to get out of this relationship. Although I earn a decent income as department manager of a sizable German company based in Connecticut, like many ex-husbands, Jack hasn't been the best at keeping up child support which made thing rough from time to time.
During the period since Jack moved out I have pretty much lived the life of a celibate recluse. I had become a robot mired in the mundane daily routine. Make breakfast; get the kids off to school; straighten up the house; go to the office; dinner for the kids; help with their homework; go to bed and start all over again the next day. In addition there was the requirement of being a "Soccer Mom" -- Swim team; little league; field hockey and of course soccer. Not to mention all the other responsibilities of a single mother catering to an 8 and a 9 year old which required weekends spent going food shopping; doing the laundry; cleaning and vacuuming; and trying to do all the myriad of other chores necessary to turn a house into a home. Even though Jack had the kids every other weekend when he wasn't called away on business (read as inebriated) I spent those times doing stuff around the house working in the garden plus trying to relax and unwind a bit.
Although I went out on rare occasions with some girl friends the thought of "dating" and any desire for physical intimacy were not part of my agenda. I had stayed in good shape, what with all the activities with which I had to cope and using the exercise machines that stayed with the house, but didn't go out of my way to look particularly eye-catching or feminine. The bad taste left by the marriage had killed my interest in any relationship. Even the thought of sex didn't appeal to me - certainly not with another man, not with a woman and not even with myself.
Realizing I needed a change of pace I finally decided to get away by myself for a few days and chose the long Columbus Day weekend. Jack had the children that weekend and I forced myself to believe them when they told me that he really didn't drink during the times that they were with him. I had heard good things about a place on Lake Placid called Falcon's Rock Equine Center. I had been an avid rider for years, until the financial drain of Jack's alcoholism prevented me from doing so. I thought this would be a nice place to "recharge my batteries". So I packed up my saddle and a couple of riding outfits along with some casual wear, took an extra day, and headed out bright and early Friday morning for the long drive from Connecticut to Lake Placid.
I arrived at Falcon's Rock just before lunchtime to find a delightful equine facility. The rustic main house was a large stone and log building covered on one side with ivy perched on a small hill and having a lovely view overlooking the lake.
After a very tasty lunch I went over to the stables to see what was in store for me for the weekend and discovered a very nice line of well-kept horses in a surprisingly neat and clean stable. I quickly went back to my room and put on my boots and my britches, grabbed my saddle from my car, (most of these riding facilities are Western style I have always preferred English) and headed back to the stables. There was only a small group of us going out that Friday afternoon for a trail ride as many of the weekend guests weren't expected to arrive until later that evening. The riding master, recognizing from my outfit that I was an experienced rider, brought me a nice sized dark bay mare named Bolero. He told me that she was a bit more spirited than the run-of-the-mill lead line ponies and that as I was a "rider" I would undoubtedly enjoy myself more.
One of the people heading out on the ride, a young handsome man dressed in jeans, T-shirt, rather expensive looking cowboy boots and a short denim jacket, caught my attention. He was tall, blond and kind of cute - well, more like sexy actually. (Vaguely I remembered sex far in my distant past.) He introduced himself to me as "Bobby" and I told him that although my name is Gerlinde everybody calls me "Geri". After a brief conversation he complemented be by casually saying how good I made a pair of britches look. I'm sure I blushed as I mumbled a quiet "Thank you". This was probably the first time since the early days of my marriage that I've been complemented that way by a man!