A Real Love
Since her doe-eyed years as a schoolgirl, Pamela had wondered about true love. From fairy tales to teen romances, it seemed that true love was based on a series of chance encounters and electric responses. Even the movies she watched confirmed her view of true love. Through a series of failed relationships and an even more failed marriage, she had finally given up on the fairy tale. Pamela Criss would no longer look at true love that way.
As a young man Jerry wondered what women looked for in a man. All his life he had been taught that a man must be strong. He must lead. He must conquer. He must protect. He must never cry. All his books showed this man as a true man. His favorite movies had even shown him as the man who gets the girl. Through a series of failed relationships and an even more failed marriage, he had given up on that man. Jerry Pinter would no longer be that man.
At least that is what they both thought when they met. Pamela Criss, who would no longer believe in fairy tales, went on a date with Jerry Pinter, who would no longer be the man his father was, and thus, a new story began. A story that would teach them both that true love still requires work and men can cry and still be men.
Pamela was not surprised when she didn’t feel a spark when she looked at Jerry. He wasn’t her usual type, physically. She usually fell for the bad boy type, men with long hair and bad attitudes. Jerry had short hair and was very polite. She expected no spark when she shook his hand.
Jerry was not surprised when Pamela didn’t seem particularly thrilled with the prospect of this date. She wasn’t his type either. He was usually attracted to tiny girls who needed, or at least wanted, him to take care of them. Pamela was tall and confident.
“Shall we go?” he inquired.
“I suppose we owe it to our friends to give it a shot,” she replied.
Jerry had made the plans like he was taught a man should do, and Pamela was fine with that. She actually liked the restaurant he chose. She didn’t expect to, but the steak she ordered was perfectly prepared, and the asparagus was steamed to tender perfection. Was it possible that this man could have something to offer her even though there was no electricity?
As the date went on, Jerry found Pamela to be very funny and intelligent. She was very certain about what she did and didn’t like, and she wasn’t afraid to say it. She made witty remarks and had a diverse vocabulary. He was enjoying himself.
As the date went on, Pamela found Jerry to be a gentleman, holding doors for her and making certain she was comfortable. He listened politely as she expressed her views and laughed heartily at her wit. Pamela was enjoying herself.
The next day, they had to face their friends.
“So, how was it?” Pamela’s friends asked, with a smile.
“He is very nice,” was her reply.
“So, what’d you think?” Jerry’s friends asked, with a smile.
“She is very nice,” was his reply.
Their friends knew they would make a great couple, if they would just give it a chance, so they kept asking. They kept bringing it up. They kept trying to get them together. Three months had passed since that first date, and then they met again.
“How?” you ask.
“Did their friends arrange a meeting? Did they see each other across a crowded room and realize that they were meant for each other? Did he call and tell her how badly he wanted to see her again?” you ask.
Sadly, no. This was real life, and there was no longer any room for fantasy for either of them. They had grown and learned that real life is rarely like the movies. Real life means making decisions and weighing what is right or wrong for you. Real life means you don’t always have a defining moment that shows you where your life will go. Real life sometimes hurts.
They were both walking their dogs when they met again. It was just a mundane, everyday meeting at the dog park. She said hello. He said hello. They stopped to allow their dogs to greet one another and talked about their dogs.
“A cocker spaniel, huh? That’s just what I expected,” he chuckled.
“What’s that supposed to mean?” she bristled.
“Just that it’s a beautiful dog, and you are a beautiful woman,” he recovered.
Looking at him warily, she said, “Thank you.”
“I see you have a bulldog,” she countered. “I’m not surprised.”
Now it was Jerry’s turn to bristle, “Why’s that?”
She replied, with a grin, “Because they slobber a lot.”
He looked indignant until he heard her laughter, then he joined in. They chatted another few minutes, and then each went on their way.
They seemed to meet more and more often. Was it because Fate was intervening to get them together? Was it because their friends were intervening to get them together? Sadly, no, it was simply that they had not noticed each other previously. Having met, they noticed each other more often — much like one notices a certain make of car once one owns that make of car. It was certainly nothing special…except that meeting more often, they spoke more often.
At first, it was polite conversation.
“Hello. How are you, today?”
“I’m fine, thank you.”
Then it became teasing.
“We have to stop meeting like this!” at the dog park.
“Don’t I know you from somewhere?” at a friend’s party.
Until one day Pamela Criss failed to show up at the dog park. Jerry Pinter noticed but figured she had come earlier because she had other plans. The next day she failed to show up, too. Jerry Pinter noticed, and he became concerned. He casually inquired of a mutual acquaintance but got no answer. The third day, he went to her house.
Her car was in the drive. The lights were on. The house hadn’t burnt to the ground. It couldn’t be anything too terrible. At least that’s what he thought as he knocked on the door. The first thing he noticed was the absence of barking. The second thing he noticed was the red, swollen eyes of Pamela Criss as she opened the door.
“Good Lord, Beauty is dead!” he thought.
“Hello,” Pamela sniffled as she opened the door.
“Hello,” Jerry responded. “You haven’t been at the park this week, and I thought you had been abducted by aliens.”
Pamela offered a sad smile in response to his attempt at levity.
“Seriously, Pamela, I’ve been worried about you, and now that I see you, I’m even more concerned. What’s wrong?” Jerry prodded, gently.
Pamela pulled the door open wide and motioned Jerry in.
Leading the way into the living room, Pamela Criss continued sniffling. Following close behind, Jerry Pinter resisted the urge to reach out and comfort her. As they walked into the room, Jerry saw Pamela’s cocker spaniel, Beauty, in the middle of the floor and was relieved.
Pamela lowered herself to the floor beside Beauty and sniffled as Beauty, whimpering, raised her head just enough to rest it on Pamela’s thigh. She motioned Jerry to the floor, and he sat with them.
“Beauty was very lethargic after our last trip to the park,” Pamela began.
“She was moping around all evening. The next morning, she didn’t walk me to the door and bark farewell, as she always does,” she continued, “But I had to get to work. I was already running late.”
Jerry resisted the urge to try and placate Pamela. Instead, he just listened with concern in his eyes as she continued.
“We didn’t go to the park that night, and I can’t say I was particularly sad about it,” she went on. “It had been an exhausting day at work. After the next day, I decided that I needed to call the vet. When he heard what I had to say, he said to bring her in right away. I did, and got the worst news. She has cancer. It’s too advanced. There’s nothing to do. I brought her home. I couldn’t bear to have her put down. Maybe I’m just selfish…”
Jerry shook his head no and, reaching out to take her hand, thought better of it and let it come to rest on Beauty’s side. The dog was still but turned her still clear eyes toward him.
Jerry stayed that evening and listened to Pamela. That was exactly what she needed. She needed a friend.
Every night after that, Jerry Pinter and his bulldog, Darryl, would come to visit Pamela Criss and Beauty. Darryl would nestle next to Beauty while Pamela and Jerry talked about work and how Beauty had been that day. Jerry told jokes and funny stories to try and make Pamela smile. Sometimes it worked and, for just a second, Pamela forgot how sad she was.
Jerry and Darryl continued these visits until Pamela became Pam, and Beauty’s eyes dimmed and closed for the final time. Then, they were all sad; Pam because she had gotten Beauty when she was a puppy and had grown to love her over the years, and Jerry because Pam was sad, and he had grown to love her.
It took several more months for Pamela Criss to grow to love Jerry Pinter, but that was fine. Jerry Pinter was a patient man. Pamela Criss loved him for that.
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