In door #3, is husband #3. Whoppee, my dad kept on saying 3 is the charm. So far he has been. It will be 21 years, holy cow Batman, come this August, if I did the math right. You know I am not good at remembering dates and the time sequence of things anymore.

So it all started in August 1993 my husband says. I had to check with him for the relationship time start.

OK, he was painting his dining room and he put Buyer's Guides all over the floor to use as a drop cloth. While looking down he noticed that the Buyer's Guide had these message things going on. For a cost you could set one up for yourself. Record a message saying your name and phone number. It was a place to find someone you might like. Now my husband is very reserved and stoic so I can well imagine how hard this was for him to do. On my end, I was off that Summer and I had been on a few dates utilizing this. My best girlfriend and I would spend time going over the listings in the Buyer's Guide. It cost you $3.00 every time you called to listen to someone. So one afternoon in August 1993 I called, my girlfriend was there, we listened to my now husband's message and voice and we were both grinning at each other. When I hung up we both thought he had a very nice voice. Little did I know at the time that his eyes are so blue you could swim in them. They are still just like that since I day I met him here. Yes, I came to his house. There was no garage here at the time, and I didn't know where to park. So I just picked a spot, and I got out, and tripped on a honking big tree root and fell down. I kid you not. He comes out and helps me up. Great beginning. I had skinned knees. So we said hi, and him being a nurse, said let's go inside and get those knees cleaned up. So within 10 minutes of meeting him, he was touching my knees. His touch is so gentle, like a whisper brushing away the pain. So great start. It didn't start out like I thought, but it was alright. We came and sat down in the living room. He had two lazy boy recliners, a coffee table, a TV, and two lamps. Not a lot in the living room at all. He offered me a soda, I said no thanks because he didn't have any diet pepsi. After a bit it got quiet because he is a quiet sort of person, still is. So I suggested we go for a walk. He said we can't walk long because he had to work tonight and is on his feet all night. When we got back from the walk, he said would I like to play a game. I asked what, he suggested Scrabble. So we played Scrabble. He won, remember I can't spell for beans. Then I went home.

It was a few days and he called me. We continued to see each other. I introduced him to my son. Then he started coming over to my house in Owen once in awhile. This went on for a year. We decided that my son and I should move in with him. His house was newer, and he had a high paying job. I found a job with Wood County. I finally had to resign from teaching and I had to pay them to get released from my contract. I put the house in Owen up for sale. Sold it. Moved. My son started 4th grade here. I got him into the Summer baseball league here so he could met kids and wouldn't be so scared when he went to a new school that August. I continued to work for Wood County until October 31st, 2010. The county sold our program that worked with the chronically mentally ill and the developmentally disabled pre vocational ceramic workshop to a company who is still running it in Marshfield. Remember me writing about how the building we were in was sold so they could build the new fire department on that property, we moved across the street. The new landlord didn't want a pet there, so that is how I got Taffy. She is now 13 years old. That is about what the vet thinks she is. So when the county sold the program, eventually the new owners had to find a new place. They bought the old fire station building across the street and down the block from where we were.

So I was a school teacher for special education and LD from 1978-May 1994. In June 1994 I started working for Wood County doing payroll and anything data entry related, and working with clients. That was from May 1994-Oct. 31, 2010. I did unemployment for as long as I could before that ran dry. Then I(we) decided I should just retire. I have worked all my life since age 12, sweeping floors and cleaning instruments at a music store in the town I grew up in, until 10/31/2010.

Without having met my husband #3 when I did, I have no idea what I would be doing. You never know what your life will pan out like, just go along and see if you find joy and happiness.