May 22, 1976

Thirty six years ago today I was getting ready to walk down the aisle to my new husband. I met him at Pizza Hut when he hired me on 1.26.76. We were married 4 months later in the Catholic Church and he still hasn't forgiven me for that but we made it this long anyway.

I was coming out of an abusive relationship and he was so very different; passive by comparison and had a witty sense of humor that kept me laughing even while we were working.  I hated waitressing but I had been unemployed for a couple of months and my Dad insisted I go talk to this nice guy that worked at Pizza Hut because, after having lunch and talking to him, he learned that Dave was hiring.  So I went there with an attitude ~ hoping to not get hired ~ but at least I could say to my Dad that I went.  I knew he would check and Dave would have to say, "Yes, she came in but she wasn't right for the job".

Unfortunately, he hired me on the spot and even when I showed up my first night in an old white uniform that I had used at another job ~ to wear until my Pizza Hut uniform came in ~ he just nicely told me not to wear it again. That I looked like a nurse. We hit it off right away.  I found him very easy to talk to and he could not imagine someone hitting a woman and made it very clear that I needed to leave that relationship with "that Corvette driving, gear-head, drunken, motorcycle driving, girlfriend beating asshole".  He may have added a few other colorful words but it was a long time ago so I don't remember. The next day, I broke it off with Mike.

A month after meeting Dave, we were planning our wedding.  He even asked my Dad and Mom for my hand in marriage and made it clear to my Dad that we didn't "HAVE" to get married, to which my Dad said "Well hell I knew that, you haven't known each other long enough!" So he said yes, and on their way home after lunch my Dad said to my Mom, "I said he could marry my daughter and I don't even know his last name!"

Our marriage has had its ups and downs like all marriages, but for the most part he has remained my best friend.  Happy Anniversary BoBo!

1994

2011