Christine and Al Noyes were on their way to Las Vegas on an early-morning Delta Air Lines flight on Jan. 20, 2018, intending to see family. The overhead seatbelt light turned off and Al said he needed the bathroom. So Christine got up and allowed Al to make his way down the aisle to use the facilities.
That is the final time she saw her husband alive.
Christine fell asleep in her seat and was awoken by a tap on the shoulder by someone asking her to check on Al in the restroom.
In her words, “He was gone.”
This nightmarish experience kickstarted a whirlwind for Christine, who had to inform her family of what happened, get home to Orange, bury her best friend and figure out the future of Grrr Gear, the outdoor sporting goods store the two owned together. She eventually took up writing as therapy, and out of this venture came the book “Close Enough to Perfect,” a memoir centered around that terrible day.
Published by Haley’s Antiques and Publishing in Athol, the book is slated to be launched on Dec. 15, with a reading and book signing at Trail Head Outfitters and General Store in Orange from 4 to 6 p.m. on Dec. 20.
“It was my way of being close to Al,” Christine said about the book. “I really think it’s helped a lot. It doesn’t go away. Nothing ever goes away. Actually, I feel close to him when I talk about him.”
After Al died, Christine found herself unable to sleep one night, with words going through her head. It came out as a poem she preserved on her smartphone. She went to sleep, read it in the morning, and loved it. Some of Christine’s poetry can be found in “Close Enough to Perfect.”
The book’s title has a couple of connections — one to the song “She’s Close Enough to Perfect for Me” by the band Alabama and another revealed deeper in the book. Al sang the Alabama song to Christine in a pickup truck one week after they met in a bowling league. The two met in October 1987 when she did a favor for a friend and filled in for an absent bowling team member. Initially hesitant, she showed and wound up bowling against Al.
They married in 1989, the same year they moved to Orange, and incorporated Grrr Gear in 2009. It started as a trailer from which they sold shooting clays when they traveled around to competitions.
“Close Enough to Perfect” is just fewer than 200 pages and is written in sections. To learn more about the book or to pre-order a hardcover or paperback copy, visit closeenoughtoperfect.com.
Christine already has plans for her next book, set for release in 2021. The novel, called “A Picture of Pretense,” is inspired by her friendship with two Canadian sisters she met on a 10-day cruise years ago.
Reach Domenic Poli at: dpoli@recorder.com or 413-772-0261, ext. 262.