[title subtitle=”words Sharla Cameron
images courtesy Gary and Sharla Cameron”][/title]
I met Gary K. Cameron when I was a seventh grader at Ramsey Junior High, in Fort Smith. He was an upperclass man and in the ninth grade. We were in band together, so I knew him, but I usually hung with my other seventh grade buddies or the other flute players. At some point during that year we both attended a band party given by a mutual friend. There was a bonfire and a scavenger hunt. Unbeknownst to me, the scavenger hunt was rigged so I would be on Gary’s team. As we walked through the neighborhood Gary and I talked and got to know each other, and at some point, Gary reached out and took my hand. I kid you not, there were sparks! I still remember the tingly feeling and butterflies I got from holding his hand! Needless to say, for the rest of the year, we were “going together.”
Gary and I didn’t live far apart. I would walk to the Speedway Gourmet, as often as my parents would let me, for an ICEE, a Slim Jim, and a new comic book, but I would take the longer route which took me past Gary’s house. I never rang the doorbell, instead, I would linger out front to see if he would notice me. Likewise, he would make trips to my house and we would often talk through my bedroom window. We stayed together through most of the summer, but as it drew to a close, and band practices started at Southside (where Gary was now a sophomore) he broke it off. After all, he was now in high school, and I was just an eighth grader! Not only that, I was miserable because I was being sent to the new junior high across town, which at the time was located in a cow pasture!
That could have been the end of our love story.
But, no so fast. Skip ahead two years. I had a wonderful experience at Chaffin Junior High. I gained much confidence as a journalist and flautist and was entering high school at Southside. I dated a couple of boys the first semester of my sophomore year, but mostly enjoyed doing things with groups of people. One night in February after a basketball game, I was in the band room locking up for my dad. As I waited in the office for everyone to put their instruments away Gary came in and started talking to me. He didn’t want me to stay there by myself, so he stayed until I locked the doors and walked me home (I just lived across the street from school). On the walk home, he asked me out on a date – a real date! Gary was a senior now with his own car and I was turning sixteen in a few days. We started “going steady” shortly after our date and were inseparable for a year and a half. During my senior year, Gary moved away to attend Arkansas Tech in Russellville, and once again, Gary broke off our relationship, as it wouldn’t have been fair to me with him in Russellville for school and working.
He knew he wouldn’t have time to come home often and he wanted me to enjoy my senior year. I was devastated, but life went on. Another year later, I was at Arkansas Tech, and Gary had moved on, yet we remained friends. Speed ahead forty years! Gary and I had remained friends, seeing each other from time to time at Southside band functions. We were Facebook friends and Gary kept up with my dad, who was always a mentor and father figure to him.
We had both been through a couple of marriages, which hadn’t worked out for their own reasons. One day, we reconnected and started talking. It turned out he was moving back to Fort Smith after being gone for many years, to be closer to family. Gary volunteered to do some handy work around my house, to help me out and soon nursed me back to health after a total hip replacement! Then, on February 26, 2018, Gary K. Cameron asked me to marry him! I said, “Yes,” and on June 10, 2018
I became Mrs. Cameron (you have no idea how many times I practiced writing that on notebooks in high school)! I love this man. I have always loved this man. We have been friends forever. He makes me laugh, he takes care of me and my family, he is my best friend, my rock, and the other half of my heart and soul. I truly believe this was meant to be. Fairy tales are real, dreams do come true, and you must believe and have faith that God has a plan for you. We may not have spent all our years together, but we will spend the best years together. And, yes, I still get that tingly feeling and butterflies every time we kiss!
