To My Valentine
When Cupid Hovered Near Kenny....A true story...almost
By Kenny Wayne Fields
Out of the corner of my right eye, I glimpsed the fluttering of delicate, wispy wings.... Instantly, my head swiveled toward them, and, lo and behold, I realized that Cupid was hovering near-by. This beautiful, but unexpected encounter occurred in the fall of 1958 while I was seated in the Duke Hall auditorium during Freshmen Orientation at Lincoln Memorial University, in Harrogate, Tennessee---near the Cumberland Gap.
Back then, all freshmen were required to attend an orientation for campus rules, dress code, procedures, etc., and, at one point, the Dean of Students announced, “Several school cheerleaders will now teach you the school alma mater and game cheers”.
On cue, two petite, cute and bubbly cheerleaders enthusiastically ran on the stage and I instantly began to swoon over the dark haired one and my heart began to thump wildly. But, suddenly, I saw movement to my right again, and I turned to see that Cupid was now much closer, and I could actually see his face.
In one swift motion, and without a word of warning, Cupid smiled…drew an arrow from its quiver…drew back his bow…and I watched in fright as the arrow released and soared toward me.
Before I could react, Cupid’s arrow pierced my heart with a slight thud, and I realized it was love at first sight. My eyes were fixed on the dark haired cheerleader and I was totally mesmerized by her cute, smiling face…her perky demeanor…and, her apparent zest for life. So…unconscious of others around me, I began whispering that she would soon be mine… forever.
Days…weeks… and months passed by as I anxiously waited for each encounter with her around campus. I saw her often but she was always with a male upperclassman and I couldn’t muster the courage to approach her while she was with some one else, but, I attended each and every basketball game and spent most of the time with my eyes transfixed on her every movement. When the final buzzer sounded for each game, I would hustle to the gym floor but another guy would invariably beat me to her side, and I would timidly shy away at the last moment. But, on each occasion I would edge closer to her which accomplished nothing but to further increase my burning desire. My entire freshman year passed by and I never met her but I did learn that her name was Shirley Jean Garrett, and that she had graduated from Lynn View High School in Kingsport, Tennessee.
I timidly pursued the girl of my dreams for over a year, but finally luck, or destiny, intervened my sophomore year when I had a class with one of Shirley’s closest friends. Nancy Dooley, from Carterton, Virginia, took pity on a shy boy from West Virginia and befriended me so I seized the first opportunity to ask her to play matchmaker.
“Please introduce me to Shirley”, I begged.
Nancy did that in late September and I could quickly tell that Shirley didn’t seem to be immediately impressed with me, but Nancy explained that Shirley was leery of dating anyone right then because of a recent split with another guy. My love didn’t falter though, but, try as we might, neither Nancy nor I could break the final icy barrier until mid-November when I had my first date with a reluctant Shirley.
Before going to sleep that night after our first date, Shirley followed her normal routine and made an entry in her diary which was thick with many pages on which she had religiously recorded her impression of all her previous dates with other boys.
“Had first date with Kenny Fields; had a really great time.”
That short entry was the last, and only one ever written about me, but it also was the final entry in Shirley’s diary. There were no more entrees…no other boys to write about… and after one long, agonizing year for me and a few more dates I was finally, “going steady with Shirley.”
We were inseparable for the next two years before Shirley graduated a year ahead of me. A month later, I proposed marriage and slipped a ring on her finger an hour after she served as a bridesmaid for her roommate’s wedding, and six short months later, we said our wedding vows during Christmas break of my senior year.
After my graduation, I entered the U.S. Navy and was a pilot for twenty-two years…. During that demanding period, Shirley endured the hardship and passionately cared for the family on the “home front”, and continued to love me faithfully while I was afloat at sea on an aircraft carrier for ten months at a time during several combat tours.
I have an inkling about the exact moment when Shirley started loving me and I personally think that she knew in her heart as she made her last diary entry that I would be the love of her life…. As for me, I’m one hundred per cent sure that my love started the very moment when Cupid pierced my heart with his arrow, and I have never, ever, considered pulling it out.
I love Shirley even more now, if that is possible, so…Cupid’s arrow is still in my heart…49 years later.
Kenny and Shirley at the "Delta Gypsy Violins Dance" in 1959 at LMU