{"id":743,"date":"2012-01-14T20:19:53","date_gmt":"2012-01-15T00:19:53","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.hamiltonartist.com\/blog\/?p=743"},"modified":"2012-01-14T21:02:04","modified_gmt":"2012-01-15T01:02:04","slug":"lennie-i-the-story-of-us-chapter-3","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.hamiltonartist.com\/blog\/?p=743","title":{"rendered":"LENNIE & I – THE STORY OF US – Chapter 3"},"content":{"rendered":"

“I am<\/em> courting you Kathryn.” \u00a0Lennie was at the Ala Moana Hotel standing out side of Rumors Night Club. \u00a0In the background I could hear the music playing. \u00a0It was a duet between Nat King Cole and his daughter Natalie Cole. \u00a0It was a recording of\u00a0Unforgettable. <\/em>“I came outside where I could call you. \u00a0I’m just standing here listening to the music and pretending that I’m dancing with you. \u00a0It’s so strange, but I would rather be out here, talking to you on the phone, than in there dancing with one of the women.”<\/p>\n

Going dancing at Rumors Night Club was Lennie’s Friday night ritual. \u00a0He had been doing it for several years. \u00a0It had been part of his weight loss program when he had arrived back in Hawai’i after leaving his wife in 2002. \u00a0At that point, out of years of stress and emotional eating, he had weighed a staggering 325 lbs. \u00a0Through better eating habits, his Friday night dancing and the Bragg exercise class on the beach, outside Fort DeRussy in Waikiki and his love of swimming, he had lost 75 pounds. \u00a0Now he was looking pretty good; six-foot-one, a head of thick, wavy, dark hair and well muscled. \u00a0He didn’t have trouble finding someone to dance with.<\/p>\n

“Just think”, I was saying, “in a couple of weeks I will be there.” \u00a0The 3 months had been shortened when I saw a seat sale on West Jet. \u00a0My arrival date was now March 26, a mere 3 weeks away. \u00a0 “I can’t wait to go dancing with you.”, I said. \u00a0 “Did I ever tell you that I took dance lessons at Fred Astaire?” \u00a0“No, you didn’t. \u00a0I never took any lessons, but I have about 25 moves and I’m a strong leader.” \u00a0I love a strong lead dancer, I thought to myself and I imagined us whirling around the floor. \u00a0“Because I’m a good dancer”, he was continuing, “I got a free European Cruise a couple of years ago.” \u00a0“A free cruise? \u00a0How did you manage that?” \u00a0“Well, \u00a0I saw this ad for dance partners on a cruise ship. \u00a0You see, there are always more women than men on cruises and the women want someone to dance with, so I signed up for it. \u00a0I had to go to a dance studio and prove that I could dance and get the owner to certify me as qualified and that was it. \u00a0So I signed up on this cruise that went from Japan to Russia and some ports in Europe. \u00a0Because I was considered entertainment, I got the use of everything on the ship that the passengers got.” \u00a0“How much did you have to dance?”, I asked. \u00a0“Not that much; just 45 minutes after lunch, and 45 minutes both before and after dinner. \u00a0I had to wear grey pants and a navy blazer and we weren’t supposed to dance with a woman twice before having danced with everyone. \u00a0And guess what Baby? \u00a0I always had the biggest lineup. \u00a0The women liked dancing with me because I’m such a fun guy.” \u00a0Somehow I already knew this. \u00a0Lennie was the kind of dancer that didn’t care if he got all the steps right; he didn’t care if the woman broke into the lead once in a while; as long as you were both having fun. \u00a0 \u00a0“I’m going back in to get some more exercise. \u00a0You don’t mind do you – that I know you’re coming and I’m dancing with other women?” \u00a0“No, of course not. \u00a0Why would I mind when you’ve been doing it for years?” \u00a0“Good.”, Lennie said, “I don’t want you to be jealous. \u00a0You know what I do? \u00a0I look for the fattest and most unattractive lady and I ask her to dance. \u00a0You\u00a0should see the way their face lights up and while they’re dancing, they’re waving to their friends to get their attention, like ‘Hey, look at me with this guy.’ \u00a0It makes their night, and it gives them bragging rights to make them feel good.” \u00a0So, he was also kind. \u00a0We both liked the underdog stories and he was doing his part. \u00a0No, I could not wait to be dancing with him.<\/p>\n

Lennie hung up the phone and went back inside Rumors while I replayed\"\"<\/a>Unforgettable <\/em>in my mind. \u00a0It really was only 3 weeks now before we would meet. \u00a0One of my friends from the dog park told me that West Jet flew out of Hamilton and that they occasionally had seat sales. \u00a0As luck would have it, when I went on to their web site, there it was – a 3-day-only seat sale. \u00a0I had immediately called Lennie. \u00a0“Well, why don’t you book it before it’s gone?” \u00a0“I don’t know how. \u00a0I’ve never bought anything over the Internet. \u00a0I’ve never bought anything over the phone either.” \u00a0I heard him sigh. \u00a0“Well, it’s the only way that you’re going to get here.”, he said. \u00a0A frustrating (for him) hour later he had managed to convince me that the airline people would not use my credit card if I gave them the number. \u00a0It was safe and secure and the majority of people in North America did this all the time. \u00a0So it was done. \u00a0I had my flight booked for a wonderful 2 1\/2 weeks. \u00a0Exhausted from dealing with my creditcardphobia he said that he was going to take a nap. \u00a0But, even though it was six hours later here, I felt empowered by my new Internet knowledge. \u00a0I went back on to the West Jet site. \u00a0There were more seat sales. \u00a0My return flight would bring me back to Hamilton in mid-April. \u00a0There was another seat in the middle of May that was on sale, but the only one that I could find for a return flight was five weeks after. \u00a0Oh well, I would stay for five weeks on my second trip. \u00a0And it was done. \u00a0I had now booked a second flight to Hawai’i for five weeks before even having met Lennie.<\/p>\n

In the meantime, he had been asking me to send him some more photos of myself. \u00a0I know that he wanted some pin-up shots, but like he had said, “I know that’s not your style Baby.” \u00a0He had recalled stories that he told me of women that were dying to have him invite them to Hawai’i and sent him nude shots with their first e-mails. \u00a0Usually that had been enough for him to block them from his list. \u00a0But he wanted something cute. \u00a0So I had set up my tripod\"\"<\/a> and taken some shots of me in a sarong and talking on the phone and in a swimsuit. \u00a0Lennie would like these. \u00a0The photo of me in the sarong would become one of his favorites and the one that he uploaded into his phone as his background. \u00a0I had had this sarong for over 25 years. \u00a0I had kept it for the day that I would be brave enough to travel to Hawai’i. \u00a0Now that day was drawing near.<\/p>\n

About an hour and a half later Lennie had woken up from his nap. \u00a0My phone rang and I grabbed it on the first ring. \u00a0“Hi Honey”, I said brightly. \u00a0“Guess what I did?” \u00a0“What Baby?” \u00a0“I went back on the West Jet site and booked a second flight; for five weeks.” \u00a0There was silence. \u00a0The silence was followed by nervous laughter and then he said, “That’s my girl. \u00a0Go straight for the throat.” \u00a0I wasn’t sure what he meant by that. \u00a0“That’s alright, isn’t it? \u00a0I think that we are both going to get along and the worst that can happen is that I have to cancel it and West Jet has this bank account thing that I can put the cancelled ticket into or even sell it to someone else.” \u00a0I was talking too fast. \u00a0“It’s okay Baby. \u00a0It was just a surprise, that’s all.” \u00a0Later I would find out how much of a surprise it was to him. \u00a0He would tell me a year later that he had thought that I might be just a two week fling and that me booking that second flight before we had even met had helped to cement our relationship.<\/p>\n

A couple of hours later he called me and said, “Guess what I’m doing?” \u00a0“What?”, I asked. \u00a0“I’m cleaning up the house for your arrival. \u00a0I’ve got my handyman and cleaning lady helping me. \u00a0We’re throwing out stuff and cleaning the place up. \u00a0I’m doing it for you, Kathryn. \u00a0I’m starting to nest.”<\/p>\n

Kathryn<\/em><\/p>\n

www.kathrynsmith.com<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

“I am courting you Kathryn.” \u00a0Lennie was at the Ala Moana Hotel standing out side of Rumors Night Club. \u00a0In the background I could hear the music playing. \u00a0It was a duet between Nat King Cole and his daughter Natalie Cole. \u00a0It was a recording of\u00a0Unforgettable. “I came outside where I could call you. \u00a0I’m […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-743","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-lennie-and-kathryn"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hamiltonartist.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/743","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hamiltonartist.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hamiltonartist.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hamiltonartist.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hamiltonartist.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=743"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/www.hamiltonartist.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/743\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":785,"href":"https:\/\/www.hamiltonartist.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/743\/revisions\/785"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hamiltonartist.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=743"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hamiltonartist.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=743"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hamiltonartist.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=743"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}