Love Story Series

 Peggy and David Trojan

 

 

What a Wonderful Life

By Peggy Trojan

My husband, David, and I met in 1961 on a blind date arranged by mutual friends. He was teaching Sociology at the University of Wisconsin-Superior and I was teaching English at the local high school. Dave was also a Marine Corp reserve member, flying helicopters and jets during military training, eventually attaining the rank of Major after twenty-one years. We were married on August 26, 1961, within six months of meeting.

The early years consisted of raising six children as we moved across the country so Dave could attain his doctorate, then back to Eau Claire, Wisconsin where he taught at the University of Wisconsin for twenty years. Once all of our children were in school, I went back to teaching middle school English and Art. We traveled extensively across the United States and abroad with and without our children. Later in life, another professional opportunity took us to Milwaukee, Wisconsin for nearly ten years.

We retired at age sixty-one and moved to Brule, Wisconsin, where we built our own home with the help of family and friends. Dave also spent six years building an experimental Zodiac airplane, which we flew for many years. Brule was the perfect gathering place for our large family, now with eight grandchildren and two great-grandchildren.

In his late eighties, Dave was diagnosed with Lewy Body Dementia. After placing him in a memory care unit for a year, our oldest daughter, Mary, retired, sold her home, and moved in with me. We took Dave home and cared for him the final four precious months of his life. He died on September 27, 2020, holding our hands. I am still living in the home we built, with Mary. Our sixty-year relationship is chronicled in my chapbook, River, which is in essence, our love story.

 

  

 

Poem for Dave

I found you
when I was young,
walking fast,
laughing eyes,
shallow guise,
tight with swagger
and invitation.

I find you now
life almost spent,
walking slow,
no special place to go,
years wise,
knowing eyes,
still learning
love is always
indefinitely perfect.


Air Mail

I smile to remember
our eyes meeting
across the room,
your finger casually
brushing your lip,
sending a kiss.
 

 

 

 

Where There Are Stars
                        for David

Before you died, you said,
"Someday I can get us to
where there are stars."
Last night, the moon was
a sliver across the snowy field.
I stood in the crisp air
in awe of a million stars.
Suddenly, you were there
and I and everything I could see
glittered in stardust. 

SIMPLE JOYS

On the balcony
with sun and birds,
you are more talkative.
“This is a new heaven.”

Your sense of humor is back,
you thank us for our efforts.
“Mary, you’re a peach.”

We watch Packers, Brewers,
fishing, Planet Earth.
“I saw this one before.”
Listen to Brahms and Beethoven.
Share daily photos with family.

We wheel you
on downtown river walks.
You wave at kayakers
from the bridge,
greet dogs we pass,
eat takeout in the park.
Find our way to Olson’s for a cone.
“Strawberry, of course.”

One day from across the living room
you announce,
“Peggy, I’m still nuts about you!”

Four months,
every day a gift.

 

 

The poems Poem for Dave and Simple Joys, are in River. Where There Are Stars was published in her chapbook, The Dance, in 2023. Airmail was published in Talking Stick 2021.

Read more about Peggy:

https://stortellerpoetryreview.blogspot.com/2023/10/storyteller-of-week.html

Peggy Trojan’s books are available on Amazon.