Me, Miss Wendy and 35 years of wedded bliss

The lovely Miss Wendy and my future were in the office at the end of the hall. Turn the wrong way or get called to a breaking story and, well, who knows what direction our lives might have headed.

It was over three decades ago and the world was moving a lot slower. Nixon was being tossed from the White House, Elvis was wearing spandex and I had a full head of hair. I was living in Jacksonville, working for the worst big paper in Florida, the Times-Union, and on this fateful day I was being trained to handle the police beat.

Turns out young Wendy was working as a secretary for the Duval County Sheriff’s Department, staying busy handling paperwork and flirting with cops. The guys with the guns, however, didn’t stand a chance against the nice Jewish boy with the reporter's notebook who had just arrived in town – that would be me!

We had heard stories about one another through friends and relatives and it was just a matter of time until the stars aligned properly and we met. There had been a few missed opportunities but when the city editor went looking for a temporary cop reporter, cosmic forces were set in motion and that thing called fate came into play.

It was early spring of 1974 and, um, love was in the air. I found myself asking some dude in a khaki uniform if Wendy Klein was working that day. Turns out she was. As I just said, fate was rolling the dice and I was about to meet my lucky number.

The lovely Miss Wendy was sitting behind a desk when I first spotted her, focusing on her work, a huge pair of glasses hiding her beautiful eyes. I stood for an instant waiting for her to take notice that I had come into her life, but she took little note of me.

I sort of shuffled about a bit, giving fate a little push in the tush and Wendy glanced up and spoke. “Yes,” she asked!

I don’t recall my exact response, but when I managed to introduce myself, Wendy whipped off her glasses, jumped to her feet and in a Yankee accent tinged with southern softness, said, “Hello”!

The following year we married. In fact, that memorable moment was exactly 35 years ago today! As I mentioned earlier, there are some things in life that are just destined to happen and some people simply meant to be together.

Such a cosmic happening is called beshert and I’m the lucky guy who once upon a time walked down just the right hallway, through the proper door, and found someone special to share this thing we call life.