The Sam Loomis Diaries

Sam Loomis Hardware Fairvale, California

November 14, 1958

I’m starting a diary because I think I met my future wife today. I know that’s sounds crazy because I’m in the middle of a divorce but that’s just the truth. Her name is Marion. I was in Phoenix with Bob Summerfield on one of our supplier trips and we were in the bar of the hotel and I guess she was near us and he’d been going on about the inventory issues and what are we going to do about Henry and when he went to the bathroom she said And it’s only Tuesday and I looked at her and she had this funny smile on her face, and then she looked at me, and I knew right away something was going to happen between me and this woman! So I said I’m Sam and she said I’m Marion. She said how long will it take you to convince Bob to take off and I said could be awhile, he’s just getting wound up. She nodded, and I said Why, you gotta be somewhere? And she looked at me again and then she asked the bartender for another scotch and soda. Then Bob comes back and says Well, I’m heading up, see you tomorrow, and he settles the bill and he leaves! Thirty seconds! So we laughed about that and I really thought it meant we were destined to be able to talk right away. And we did. We talked and she’s interesting and intelligent and I’m not just saying that because she looks like a movie star (which she really does). She was born and raised in Phoenix. She lives here with her sister. Her father died in a car accident when she was seventeen. I found that out when i asked where she went to college because she’s smart. Then I told her about my dad and all that. She supported her sister and they lived with their mom until the mom died, I think that was a few years ago. From cancer. She works for some business guy named Lowry as a secretary, said he’s decent, treats her okay. But then she said tonight she’d been thinking she’d made a mistake staying in Phoenix, maybe she should go somewhere else and when she saw me she thought I was the first thing that made her want to stay here. I think that’s the nicest thing anyone has ever said to me. But then I thought it was sad because I’m in Fairvale, I don’t live in Phoenix and then I thought why does that make me sad and then I laughed and then she laughed. And then we kept talking about movies and books and things we’ve seen on television and she’s really got some opinions. We exchanged phone numbers and addresses and I told her I would find a reason to be back in Phoenix soon, real soon. I told her to visit me in Fairvale but I don’t know if that’s going to happen. I know the next time we see each other we will pick right up where we left off. We have time, there’s no hurry.