Page 66 - Sun Rays Febuary 2013

66 | SUNRAYS FEBRUARY 2013 ONLINE: SCTXCA.ORG
Can you believe a lasting relationship would begin at a wres-
tling match? At least one did. Sue Eastland weighed less
than 100 pounds on a slight frame that was about 5’2”. The
color of her hair defied description, neither blonde nor red,
but a striking combination of both colors. Her blue eyes were
bright with excitement and anticipation of “What’s next?”
and “He took me to a wrestling match for our first date?”
We were only 16 years of age for that first date, but I knew at
the end of that evening she was the first and last girl I would
ever really love. Oh, we had our ups and downs giving birth
and raising three marvelous children, but the most serious
negative we had might have been the length of hair of our
first born son in his 16th year in 1968.
And did we have fun! We spent almost a year on a 35-foot
sailboat with three children ages 9 to 14, sailing the Gulf
of Mexico and five months in the Bahamian out-islands.
After the children left, we spent nine months on a small
travel trailer slowly exploring Highway 1 on the spectacular
West Coast and then the Canadian Rockies. We, just the
two of us, spent another year on that same 35-foot sailboat
retracing the earlier excitement with our children. And then
we ended our careers working together for five years in a
sailboat importing business that produced a 52-foot cutter
rigged sailboat, in which my every dream of a boat was
realized. On that boat with over 10 years of ownership, we
explored the East Coast as far north as Cape Cod, as well
as revisiting our old haunts in the Exuma chain of islands
southeast of Nassau many times.
After 45 years of sailing, Sue said, “Enough!” We sold our
boat, and built our dream home near Canyon Lake and New
Braunfels. Golf became our joint activity of choice and we
played on courses from San Diego to Tennessee. When we
discovered Sun City and its beautiful golf courses, we moved,
“downsizing” more than we initially planned.
Our love story tragically came to an end one day when we
prepared to play golf on Legacy Hills with our Friday regu-
lar couple. Sue felt weak after hitting practice balls on the
range. A non-emergency trip to the Scott & White Hospital
in Round Rock followed by angioplasty and stent installation
seemed to fix her problems. Then a massive allergic reaction
to something she had been given took my Sue in only a few
minutes. Our marriage of over 61 years was at an end, but
our love didn’t die. A note on the computer of a Georgetown
doctor says it all. “Don’t cry because it’s over. Smile because
it happened,” author unknown. I smile a lot…but I still cry
a little too.
— J. Howard Williams, N16
“I knew she was the first and last girl I would ever really love.”
Sue and Howard during a 1978 trailer trip.
Sue Williams aboard the 52’ cutter
Blue Lady.
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