How it began all those years ago, A Devine Marriage

It was the late 70s. Me out with the girls on the town. Dancing with the girls at a local honkey tonk, Tolland’s Tavern. The Johnston Brother’s band was playing. Some 10 or so of us in the group…

The room was divided into 2 groups of tables, with a dance floor in the middle. Stage one end, bar the other. It became apparrent that out group would need a bigger table. Which meant switching sides of the room from the left to the right. The left side being BobbyD’s ( he was a cocktail waiter), but I didn’t know him at the time…

So, I went to everybody and this is the 70’s and said we can’t “stiff the waiter” we are taking a table of 10 from him as we need to tip him. Each a $1.00, was the agreed price. Lisa Short, Katie Whip, and many other girl friends were there that night. Many of my friends from then are long forgotten.So, I gathered up the money and gave it to the waiter, BobbyD. He just kinda stared at me. He then asked, “would you dance with me?” I explained to BobbyD that he was working and he might get fired.

BobbyD said, he didn’t care and we slowed dance… the rest is history.

Neither one of us had any money.

Me: I was getting off a bad divorce. Two young children in tow. A meager amount of child support and working on my GED.

BobbyD: A Viet Nam veteran working evenings in a “honkey tonk” for tips!

Not much of a future for either one of us!

However; it was love at first sight and we made it work. It was hard work. And we were poor. Very poor. However; BobbyD always believed in me…

BobbyD encouraged me to go to nursing school. Kinda a blind faith each one of making the other person better.

35 years later we are still working on it…