TVC - Day 105 - 48 Summers

As I was waking up this morning it occurred to me that this is the 48th summer I have been with this amazing woman, The Lovely Elaine, whom I first met in January of 1968 when I was home after my first semester of college for the winter break.  I was going to school in Texas and she had come out to Pasadena, CA from Miami, FL to go to college.  She had met and befriended several of my high school buddies.  I was captivated by her at the time, but was interested in someone back at school in Texas.

Taken in the summer of 1968

That summer when I returned my parents were invited to a pool party at the home of my father's boss, Joe Vallerand.  My dad suggested I ask that girl, Elaine, to come along as my date.....at that point I had been out to the movies with my friends, and she had been part of the group, but not asked her out on a date........I did and she accepted.....the picture above memorializes our first date that summer of 1968.

The summer of 1971

We became friends that summer, and each semester break and summer that I would return home from school we would get together.....she would come to Manhattan Beach on Sundays  during the summer with our family.  When I came home for my last winter break my senior year in January of 1971 Elaine asked me to be her date at a party she and her friends were hosting off campus.  I accepted, and the rest is history......by the Spring break of 1971 we were engaged, and were married just a few months later on August 29, 1971, my father's birthday.  Our first of five children, Christopher, was born one year and two days later.

Summer of 1991 - Kauai

Summer of 2001 - Quebec

Summer of 2015 - 48 summers together

On August 29th of this year we will celebrate our 44th anniversary of our wedding day.......

August 29, 1971

......everybody says "I would do it all over again".....but, seriously, I cannot imagine my life without Elaine at my side, and that is where she has been through rich, through poor, through thick, through thin, the ups and downs......it has been an amazing adventure with this woman....I still tell people today "I cannot believe she chose me".......she still captivates me 48 summers later.

Thanks for stopping by!