After taking an early retirement, I was visiting a cousin in a southern Arizona town. He had been in the Army, and when Sunday morning came, he suggested we go have breakfast at the local American Legion hall where he was a member.
We arrived early, or at least I assumed we were early because the line to order was short. The Hall was like every other American Legion I had been in - old, outdated furnishings, a smoke filled bar with cheap drinks, a conference room/cafeteria. In spite of it all, I liked the ambience.
We got to the table where a woman was taking orders and money. She looked to be in her late fifties, early sixties, black hair going to gray, bright blue eyes and a Rubenesque body that immediately had me thinking how I might get to know her. On top of her attractiveness she looked at me with a friendly attitude, smiled and said, "Hi, I'm Winnie."
Without knowing why, I went out of my way to introduce myself. "Hi Winnie, I'm Tom." I would have spent the next hour talking to her, but the people in line behind me would have gotten upset. My cousin and I ordered, I picked up the tab, and looked for a place to sit.
My cousin said, "Isn't she (i.e., Winnie) nice?"
"Yes, she's cute as hell."
"She's had a hell of a time lately, her husband had a bad stroke and died a while back."
"What's 'a while back?' Does she spend much time here?"
"It must be six, eight months ago. She's just here Sundays helping with breakfast. I think she is about to retire from her job as a librarian at the main downtown library."
The subject quickly changed and we ate our breakfast. My cousin saw some people in the bar when we finished eating that he wanted to talk to. When he left, I wandered back to where Winnie was counting up the day's proceeds.
"Hi, would you like some help?"
Winnie looked up. "Sure, Tom, right?"
I said, "Yes," and sat next to her. She counted the money and I entered the numbers into the ledger she was using. It took twenty minutes to count and record the money, then we did it all over again to double check.
We finished and Winnie thanked me for the help. "You're the first person that's ever volunteered to help me count."
"My pleasure. How are you?"
"I'm sure your cousin told you. I'm good, my husband passed several months ago. He thought Covid was a hoax."
"I'm sorry to hear that, and yes he told me."
"Thank God,or whoever, for life insurance. It's hopefully going to let me retire someday."
"You need to pull the plug as soon as you can. Works over rated."
We continued talking until I could see my cousin getting anxious to go. Without giving it a lot of thought, I asked her, "Would you consider having lunch with a stranger?"
Winnie thought for a moment. "No, I wouldn't. But you're not a stranger. Are you asking me out for a lunch date?"
"Yes. Yes I am, would you go to lunch with me?"
"I should think it over and then tell you no. But the answer is yes."
I was excited and we agreed to have lunch Tuesday. Winnie asked if we could meet instead of me picking her up and I agreed.
Winnie gave me her cell number. We decided I would find a restaurant near her work and call her with the arrangements.
