[jdviole2]

The incident that I mentioned in the "sex" post that happened to Helena when she was a kid made it very hard for her to trust people. Everyone in the past who she told the story to had betrayed her trust in them. She had retreated into herself as far as revealing anything about her past went. Yet she told me on only our second date. When I asked her to marry me I was due to get out of the navy in a year and had absoulutly no idea of what I was going to do or how I was going to make money to support us. That never worried her. She placed all her trust in me. She knew, somehow, that I would figure it out. My first entry level job really didn't pay very much. I told her that if she thought it would be enough she could quit her job and stay home to take care of the house. She quit immediately. She told me later that she wasn't worried. That she knew I would soon be making a great deal more money than when I when I started out. She had unending faith in me. As a part of my job I occasionally had to leave in the middle of the night to meet some of the women I worked with to resolve problems. When that happened I might not be home for hours (once I didn't get home for two days). She never had any suspicions that I was fooling around on her. She trusted me. When we would be out somewhere she would call my attention to good looking, or scantily clad women just in case I might have missed seeing them. She knew I would never leave her. I repayed that trust every chance I got. For example. Helena loved to dance. I, on the other hand, would rather have my feet chopped off at the ankles rather than have to dance. Our friend, who lived across the street, had recently been divorced. A couple of times a month she and Helena would go out and hit all the clubs and bars that had dancing. Our friend was looking for a hookup. Helena was looking to dance. She would have a drink or two but never once came home drunk, and never was out very late. I have always been a late night kind of person so I would be up when she got home. We would talk about the guys she danced with. She even had some regular guys that she danced with a lot. She always wore her wedding ring and let them know up front that dancing was all they would get from her. No one ever tried anything. If she really liked them well enough they might get a kiss on the cheek when the dance was over. In fact the only conversation we ever had on the topic of other men and other women was when she told me that if I ever had an affair it had better not be with any woman she knew. I wanted to ask if that meant that it was OK for me to have an affair as long as she didn't know the woman. I didn't ask for two reasons. 1) I was too much in love with Helena to even be able to imagine being with another woman. And 2) I was afraid she meant that if she didn't know the woman then there would only be me to deal with. If she knew the woman, then there would be two bodies to dispose of. For us Love, Honor, and Cherish were not just words in the wedding vow. It was the way we lived life. More than one person has asked me if I was going to get married again. I answerd all of them that if you were used to perfection why would you go for anything less. For me, there will never be a person who will be as vital a part of my happiness as Helena. The first picture shows Helena in the town of Munt Germany (near Munich) in 1974. She had gone to get her hair done. As usual she is dressed in a really short skirt. Number two is Helena having a free beer at Busch Gardens in California in the mid 70's. You used to be able to tour the brewery and then get some beer in the attached beer garden. They also had a huge garden area with tons of exotic birds. I don't think they are open anymore. The third shot was one that Helena hated. She always thought her butt was too big and really hated it when she saw I had taken a picture with her ass as the point of interest. Taken somewhere in Arizona in the late 70's. One of my favorites. Number four is in Colorado in the early 80's. Notice that she is wearing a pack. When we hiked in the mountains we both wore packs. We took water, rain gear, rope, first aid stuff, matches, anything we might need in an emergency. In addition I had a buffalo skinner knife on my belt. In a pinch it would cut down small bushes or even trees. Picture number 5 is Helena in her Captain Morgan stance. This was taken in the Petrified Forest in Arizona in the late 70's. The last shot Helena is resting in a garden. Not sure where or when this was taken. It kind of looks like the tower at the Grand Canyon. If it is then it would also be in the late 70's.