Synopsis
The ‘Three Encounters of a Romantic Kind’ is a short narrative about the captivating ways fate guided me to connect with the three most significant women of my life.
I was 26 years old in 1962 when, on a leisurely summer weekend, I was ready to take a dive into the warm waters of the Mediterranean Sea. To my surprise, an attractive young woman relaxing on the sandy beach struck up a conversation with me. “Hello, do you remember me?” I didn’t, though I should have. What began with that friendly, unexpected, yet embarrassing question in just seven months morphed into my first marriage, a life-changing experience that lasted two decades.
I was 47 years old in 1983 when I placed an ad in a local weekly newspaper just two months after my first marriage ended in divorce. Fortunately, a lady named Elaine responded to one of the nearly 50 replies I received. However, when she returned home from work, noticed the flashing voicemail light, and picked up the phone, she couldn’t make sense of a single word in my recorded message. Nevertheless, Elaine became my second wife, leading to another life-changing event that both Elaine and I hoped would last a lifetime. Tragically, after 24 years of blissful togetherness, she succumbed to a rare disease that, to this day, my profession has no appropriate response for.
Heavens, fate, or both must have guided my probing mouse searching a sexplicit website when I fell upon a 42-year-old profile named ‘Armenianprincess.’ It depicted a gorgeous, carnality-oozing lass who was, yes, yes, only 31 springs younger than me.
We met on a blind date, and notwithstanding the unbefitting age gap, we evolved into a passionate and loving relationship that lasted over a decade and survived even a three-month, 11,000-mile separation. Yes, I was in love, and I returned to the U.S. to be with her, this time she being my ‘Myprincess.’