Sometimes the most unexpected chapters of our lives begin when we think our story has already been told.
Pam, This Is Eleanor
A Memoir by Dave Smith
Finding two great loves in one lifetime.
A deeply personal journey through the people, places, choices, and remarkable events that shaped one life—with two extraordinary loves at its heart.
Available in Kindle and paperback.
The Story
Two great loves. One extraordinary lifetime.
Dave Smith considers himself a very fortunate man—for having had two great loves in his life. But Pam, This Is Eleanor is about far more than two love stories.
It begins with a boy growing up in Hawaiʻi and follows a life shaped by family, friendships, unexpected opportunities, difficult choices, successes, failures, faith, and the extraordinary changes witnessed over more than eight decades.
Along the way came a career in the emerging world of high technology, a family, adventures and accomplishments, periods of profound difficulty and loss—and Pam, with whom Dave shared decades of marriage and much of that remarkable journey.
Then came a chapter he never expected to write.
After Pam's death, Eleanor—a woman Dave had known about as a teenager but had never really known—came back into his life.
Pam, This Is Eleanor is a candid memoir about the people, places, and events that shape a lifetime—and about discovering that, when one story seemed to have ended, life still had another remarkable chapter waiting.
A Short Excerpt
Pam, you and I reconnected around our 25th high school reunion. By then, we had been distant friends for nearly three decades — occasional letters, a chance crossing of paths, the kind of tenuous connection life allows when it keeps pulling you in different directions. Then, for thirty-five years, you were by my side—more to your credit than mine. I was never the easiest man to live with, always chasing some new path, some new direction. But together we built a family, and I was steady where it mattered most — a husband to you, a father to our four children, who blended seamlessly into one family.
Now, looking back, those thirty-five years passed in a heartbeat. And then, a few years ago, so did you. Until then, I had never truly been alone. Married right out of high school, then again, and again — until you reentered my life and broke that pattern. Suddenly, after all those years, there was silence.
Strangely, I wasn’t lonely. I had things to do and four wonderful adult children to fill my days. And you, still with me in memory, whenever I needed to hear your voice. I often wondered if I should open myself up again. At seventy-five, I was still vital, still curious about life. Yet I knew our conversations — the ones I carried on with you — were echoes in my mind. Even so, you had told me more than once: if you left first, I should find someone new.
I always brushed that aside. I thought I was full.
Then came the invitation to our 60th high school reunion. I had missed only two: the one in Las Vegas (which I boycotted) and the 55th, when your health kept us at home. This time I made plans. Talked my lifelong friend Tom into coming — his first reunion. It turned out to be the best of them all: beautifully planned, a magical weekend.
And she was there. Eleanor.
I remembered her vividly from high school, back in Hawaii. She’d lived there all her life. Back then, she terrified me — easily the most beautiful girl I had ever seen. In three years, I mustered the courage to approach her perhaps a dozen times. Each time, I lost my nerve. They said she had a steady boyfriend anyway, so I convinced myself it didn’t matter. We never spoke. In sixty-three years, not a single conversation.
About Dave
Dave Smith grew up in Hawaiʻi and spent much of his professional life in the emerging high-technology industry before turning seriously to writing.
Pam, This Is Eleanor is his memoir—a reflection on more than eight decades shaped by family, work, faith, unexpected opportunities, difficult choices, loss, and the remarkable turns a life can take.
He lives in Hawaiʻi with Eleanor.
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