Today marks the last day of 30 years of marriage to the former Catherine Elizabeth Stephens of Durham, N.C. Year 31 begins to tomorrow, and I'll gladly take another 30 if they're anything like the first 30.
There is no part of my life that possibly could have been better without Cathy. Three kids, two continents and seven moves later she is still the brightest star in my heavens.
How we met: I was a senior at Wake Forest University. I went to a house party the evening of Feb. 26, 1977 and about 10 p.m. was walking to the door to leave. I paused a moment to say hello to a friend, Chip, who introduced me to four young ladies he was chatting with. I said hello and turned to leave. Then a voice behind me said, "I like your beard." Well, I was the only bearded guy around so I rear marched and in my most suave and debonair manner replied, "Thank you. Would you like to dance?" She would, we did, and the rest, as they say, is history.
Cathy was a freshman attending a school 30 miles away. We never even lived in the same town until we married. In fact, until this day 30 years ago, we didn't even live in the same state except for our first three months dating, and a year of our courtship and engagement time I was stationed in Korea.
What the heck, here's another picture, an artsy style that was popular back then (and maybe still is, for all I know). I had a lot more hair then, and it wasn't gray.
Thank you, Cathy, for three decades of devotion, joy and adventure.
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