Anyone who knows me knows how much I absolutely adore Valentine’s Day. And while yes, I’m quite the fan of flowers and sweet treats, it’s love stories like this one here that truly pulls at my heart strings and gives me so much joy. This one, told by the dapperest of gentlemen, and the pure love captured in Julie Paisley’s pics, are the best #relationshipgoals I ever did see. Sound a little too good to be true? Read on – I promise you it’s not only worth it, but you’ll be smiling all weekend long.
From Fred… This story begins on a cold winter’s’ night in March of 1967, in a small, remote town in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. Marquette, Michigan to be exact. How a boy from Deptford, New Jersey and a girl from Floresville, Texas happen to cross paths there is beyond me, but this is where this story begins. Did I say it was a cold winter’s’ night in Marquette? Cold may not begin to describe what it’s like in the Upper Peninsula, take my word for it, when I say cold I mean cold. Snow, about 200 inches a year, and the temperature that night was probably around 8 or 9 degrees… yes, it was cold.
There was a dance that Friday night at the Airman’s Club. A small version of a Non Commissioned Officers Club on K. I. Sawyer Air Force Base, smack dab in the middle of the Michigan State Forest. And… it didn’t take long to make eye contact with a woman, who, little did I know at that time would become my wife of 45 (+) years. Yep, I was hooked. Call it fate, a chance meeting, destiny, happenstance, call it what you will, that chance meeting changed my life forever. There she was dancing in the middle of the dance floor creating a scene, and stopping traffic. Well, whatever she was doing was mesmerizing half the male population of K. I. Sawyer AFB, (the other half must have been sleeping), and of course being the suave, sophisticated Mr. Cool boy from New Jersey that I am, I asked her to dance. (Of course I was immediately turned down)….
But… persistence pays off, and before the night was over, we danced and talked and laughed. She made fun of my New Jersey accent, and I made fun of her… well, there was nothing to make fun of. Let’s just say, it was great. And, from that moment on our lives have been full of one shared memory after another. Some of the coolest, fondest, most wonderful memories anyone could ask for. I’d like to take a moment or two to share some of those memories with you.
Let’s see, where do I begin… from the Ice Carvings at Northern Michigan University, smack dab in the middle of Marquette, to about two years later, in August of 1969, when we were married in her home town of Floresville, at the Sacred Heart Catholic Church. It was a dream come true for me. Of course, I should mention that it was the middle of summer, 105 degree heat in Floresville, and me in my dress Air Force blues. But 105 degrees… really? But that was the day I can say my life actually began.
From that day forward we shared memories halfway around the world and back again… several times over. We spent many unbelievably special evenings on the beaches of Waikiki on the island of Oahu. Crisscrossed most of these 50 United States over the years, and made a second home for ourselves in Europe. Ramstein, Germany to be exact. In between all that we have been showered with good fortune that most couples can only dream about.
From Michigan to Goose Bay, Canada. From Washington D.C., to Hawaii, and many spots in between, we’ve had a blast along the way. Three Children and six grandchildren later and we’re still together, and enjoying a life together that most folks envy, and many families only hope for. I have a funny feeling that this journey is far from over. We have so much still to see, so many places to experience, and still so very memories to share.
Photography: Julie Paisley Photography | Venue: Carrington Crossing