| Althea and Richard Married in 2007 in Booth Bay, Maine She was 89; he was 89 as told by Richard. Always Mates
class of 1939 and Althea was a year before me. We quickly became friends outside of class because I was dating June, her sorority sister and Althea was dating Mack, my fraternity brother. We would get together as a foursome often. After graduation, Althea and I continued our studies at Yale University. I was in public health and she was in nursing. Althea was no longer dating Mack so I introduced her to one of my classmates, Larry. They hit it off and we were a foursome again. By this point I was in love with June and Althea with Larry. We both married our spouses in 1941 and all of us were in each other’s weddings. The years went on and we developed our careers, which took us to different parts of the U.S. and the world. We each grew our families. June and I have two sons and Althea and Larry have a daughter and a son. During these years, we would maintain contact with Althea and Larry through letters and whenever we were in proximity of each other, we would visit with our families. I always considered Althea a good friend and a lot of fun. Althea was madly in love with Larry and I was deeply in love with June. As the years went on, June and I were living in Florida when she developed Alzheimer’s. Around this same time, Larry began to fail mentally, then physically. We were both caring for our spouses before they each ended up in nursing homes. My daily visits to the nursing home were taking a toll on me. My wife no longer knew me or our children and the nursing staff suggested that I take a vacation. I thought of visiting my brother in Maine. Since Althea now lived in Connecticut and we were still corresponding, I decided to visit her on my way to my brother’s. I was always fond of Althea and thought of her as a “go- to” person. By this time, Althea’s husband had passed away and Althea and I sought companionship with each other. We each had great marriages and, as Althea says, our spouses trained us well to want to be married. After my initial visit, I wrote poems to Althea (sample below) and tried to visit her every few weeks. I was convinced that I wanted to keep this girl and did all that I could to go after her. I left no doubt with her that I was interested and she never discouraged me. We both knew there was no point in being lonely. June passed away and, when my relationship with Althea evolved to the point where I felt it was proper, I proposed to Althea. She readily agreed to marry me and then quickly suggested that we tell our children. We were both so excited. I had one remaining issue – how to get the approval of Althea’s daughter who had been her daddy’s girl and had priority in Althea’s life. Fortunately, her daughter and I developed a good relationship over time and she was instrumental in planning the wedding, even holding the reception at her house. We honeymooned on a cruise down the Rhine River, then the Danube ending in Vienna, Austria. We were treated like celebrities once the passengers and crew knew of our story. Today we are extremely happy and love spending time together! We also have separate interests. I spend time tending to my vegetable and rhododendron gardens and Althea has been active in the local Historical Society where she served as a docent and curator of antique dolls. DAWN I seek you in the first pale light of day, The still and quiet time before the dawn, And hope that from so very far away Your spirit, love, and image may be drawn. The gray clouds slowly take a lighter hue, On streaming banners purple then the pink appears And in between the hints of green and peacock blue, As from the sea, time for the sunrise nears. With the first searing flash of summer sun The clouds burst pink-gold with that ray, A spectacle announcing God has now begun To give us all another bright and lovely day. I did not hear your voice's sound, I did not see your image fair, But with such beauty all around I knew that you were there. |
