You Can Take it to The Bank

It was a bright fall day in 1989 when my yet-to-be bride, Lisa, strolled in the door of Broadway Bank in Paterson, NJ and asked me for a deposit slip. She was wearing a tan raincoat with the belt tied simply in the front. Her chestnut hair tied back in a ponytail and her blue eyes sparkling like a placid lake. What blew me away though was her smile. It lit the entire lobby like a thousand stars and I imagined it was just for me.

I handed her the deposit slip silently and she proceeded to the tellers counter. I hurried back to my desk and called the teller at that window. Lisa was leaning on the teller’s counter and both her hands were visible so I asked the teller to see if she had a ring on. The teller misunderstood me and asked Lisa if she was married instead. Lisa turned around to examine the lobby and desk area and asked, “who wants to know?” Without missing a beat the teller pointed right at me and said, “that guy over there.”

Before she had a chance to focus on me I was under my desk trying to dig a hole to China. Lisa was very shy so rather than confront me she left, looking over at my desk several times before finally going. After having words with the teller (who later on I was very grateful too…) I broke several federal privacy laws by pulling her signature card from the files and getting her office phone number.

She answered the phone and I explained who I was. I said, “since the teller already embarrassed me would you like to go for lunch?” We had our lunch date and then the movie date and then the dinner date and eventually the wedding date.

We were married nine and half years when she passed away in December of 1999 due to breast cancer. She was thirty-six years old. I miss her dearly every day, especially when I look at my two boys, now thirteen and sixteen. In the immediate days after her passing I had to tell the boys the “bank story” over and over, among others, as their bedtime stories. It was their favorite. It’s my favorite. It helps keep her alive in my mind and spirit when I need her most.

Broadway Bank is defunct now and we no longer live in New Jersey but I can see that bank lobby clear as day when I close my eyes. Lisa’s smile will live on in our sons and someday their smiles will create memories for some lucky girls. Memories are the key to the past and many times you have to unlock that door to see the future.

Sponsored by EnterTo.com the first REAL spam free email

Click Below to discover and share content from anywhere on the web

Life As It Happens

You Can Take it to The Bank