At the end of March 1977 I was walking and reading April's guest schedule when I noticed a small group standing near my office. I looked up long enough to see Ken Spafford, Caroline Guthrie (who fancied herself my CBN mother), Sherry, Nancy (who had me close to going out with her) and a young woman whose face I couldn't see. As I maneuvered around them Ken called my name and said he wanted to introduce me to a friend of his. I was super busy but couldn't say no to Ken Spafford. No one could say no to the nicest, kindest man ever made. Ken introduced me to Mary  from Ohio as a person he met during the Jesus 76 rally in western Pennsylvania (a CBN sponsored event I missed because I was in a Virginia prison). This girl looked about sixteen so I made an effort to be polite and said hi when I reached out to shake her hand. When our hands met I went weak in the knees. For the first time I really looked at her face. She was beautiful. She was soft and kind. And innocent. Those are the words I would use to describe her. Young, beautiful, soft, kind, and innocent. She wore an ankle length dress that completely hid her body. Add a head cover and you could call her outfit a burka. She hid her body so well I couldn't judge that part. But it didn't matter if she was as flat as a board. The moment our hands touched I was smitten. Completely and totally in love. I knew in that instant that I had held the hand of my soul mate, my partner, my wife.

After holding her hand too long I let go and tried to recover. I attempted to hide my reaction but Caroline Guthrie, Sherry and Nancy all saw it. Ken was clueless as guys are about such things. I have never figured out if that girl knew then she had captured my heart with a hand shake. I suppose I should ask her now, thirty-eight years later.

I had to get away from her before I swooned, so I excused myself and went into my office and closed the door. Any doubt my female coworkers had about my reaction vanished when I closed the door. I never closed the door. The small room reminded me too much of a cell, something everyone knew. Regardless of the confines, I felt safer with the door closed. The teenage girl from Ohio scared the crap out of me. My hands were shaking and sweaty. After I recovered enough to come out only Sherry was in the outer office. She looked at me and smiled knowingly. She was going to say something so I walked away before she could. There was no doubt she knew I was off CBN's eligible single men's list.

I walked as calmly as possible through the empty Studio B, past the Green Room and make-up stations back to where Ken had his work shop. I was hoping to see that girl again, but Ken was alone working on some project. He smiled when he saw me and called me over to show me what he was working on. Can't remember what I said, but did managed to bring up "that girl". I couldn't remember her name, so was pleased when Ken called her Mary. He then launched into the story about how they met. Ken built the big stage for Jesus 76, which was held on Watson's farm in Mercer, Pennsylvania. Ken was rushing from one place to another when he smelled propane in the air. Following his nose he identified it as coming from a camper trailer. Ken knocked on the door and when no one he went in, found the gas leak and fixed it. He was just finishing the job when Mary returned to her borrowed camper. Ken introduced himself and explained what he was doing. Mary, like everyone else, loved Ken instantly. Ken invited Mary to visit him at CBN, which was the reason for her presence in Virginia.

I needed to find out all that I could about her with out being obvious, but I wasn't any good at such subtle things and Ken was clueless as to my interest. At least I thought he was. I later learned that the reason he invited Mary to CBN was to meet me. He'd matched us together the moment he met her. I did learn that Mary and her parents were staying at his place while they were in town, but at the moment they had went somewhere sight seeing.

That they were staying with Ken provided my opening. When I went to prison Ken kept my dog while I was gone. The house I now lived in didn't allow pets, so Ken still had the dog. Ken lived in a mobile home on Pat Robertson's property, near the Robertson's home, so I was out there five days a week and had visited my dog but the mutt had switched alliances. The dog obviously loved Ken and made sure I knew it. I think the mutt knew I planned to eventually take him away from Ken and his rural playground so he did everything a dog can do to let me know I was no longer his master.

Still, the mutt gave the opening I needed to get to Mary, so I didn't care if he bit me. I asked Ken if it was okay if I stopped by tonight to see the traitorous mutt. Sure, sure he said, so that was my plan. To visit a dog who didn't like me so I could catch another glimpse of the beautiful girl I was in love with, but was too young for me to date.

I had been so messed up through the day that it wasn't until I walked out into the parking lot that I remembered my car was in the shop getting the brakes fixed. An important detail I had forgotten. Earlier in the day I'd lined up a ride home with a roommate and arranged for a staffer to deliver the show format to Pat's house. Common sense dictated that I forget about seeing "my dog" and try again tomorrow since Ken had said Mary would be in town through the upcoming Telethon. But I couldn't wait. My plan was to beg a ride to Suffolk, but when I looked around everyone was gone. It was Friday night, date night for most, so I was home alone. One of the guys had a decent bicycle, which he had told me I could use, so that's what I did.

Pat Robertson's home, and Ken's was a half hour drive from where I lived, but a long way on a bike. I'd biked for a half hour when it began to get dark. The bike didn't have a light and it would take two more hours to reach Ken's home. Two hours down a busy four lane highway in the dark with no light. If I survived the trip it would be too late to visit. If my own dog didn't bite me Pat's pair of Russian Wolf Hounds were up to the task. It was difficult to turn around and go home, but there was little choice. I slept poorly that night and set off again at first light. It took me three hours to get to Ken's mostly because my legs were killing me so I had to walk the bike ever so often. But it was worth the trip.

Mary came out when my dog barked at me. She already knew it was my dog so I didn't have to explain, but I did anyway. To my shock the mutt was friendly towards me. He acted like we were long lost friends. Perhaps it was my car he didn't like. Whatever it was, Mary stayed with me while I played with my dog. After a bit we walked to the barn where Pat and Deede Robertson kept a few horses. I'd helped Pat with the horses before so they knew me. We rubbed the horses noses and talked to each other. When I asked Mary how long they were staying in Tidewater she said just a week, that she had to get back for school. I assumed she meant high school so I asked what grade she was in. When she said college I asked her age. When she said twenty-four I asked for id. I figured she might be old enough to drive, but there was no way I was willing to believe this young, sweet, innocent girl was four years older than I. It just wasn't possible. I only left when it was close to the time for Mary and her parents to head off somewhere. The next day was Sunday and they planned to attend Rock Church with Ken and make a day of it. So Sunday was a long miserable day.

Monday morning when I walked through the CBN lobby to deliver a guest to the show I spotted Mary sitting in a chair. I waved and kept going as I had to walk the guest back to the makeup room. When I returned she was still there. Mary had come to Virginia to get a job at CBN so had an interview planned for later that day. She had rode to work with Ken so her parents could use their car to explore, so she was early with time to kill. I had to pickup a film from a production company in Virginia Beach so I invited her along. You know, so she could see more of the area. She thought about it for so long that I thought she'd decline, but then smiled and said yes.

Our destination in Virginia Beach was a half hour of traffic toll road and tunnel. We spent the first fifteen minutes doing light banter, getting to know each other. It was going well until I blurted out that I was going to marry her. It wasn't the best way to speak to a woman like Mary. I didn't ask her to marry me, I told her we were going to marry as if it were a fact. To me it was a fact. This was my wife and we would be married. Period. A done deal. I announced this rather un-tactfully as we were driving on the Virginia Beach Expressway passing Mount Trashmore, which is an old trash dump converted into a park. She didn't answer at first, just kept her head turned towards Mount Trashmore like it is was the most interesting thing she had ever seen. To break the ice I told her that used to be a dump. Okay, not the most romantic guy in the world. When she finally spoke to me she said, "Your crazy." To which I said, "Probably. But a year from now I'll remind you of this conversation and you'll tell me to shut up and roll over." She laughed.

One thing was sure, I had her attention. For the rest of that ride I let the subject of marriage drop. After returning to CBN we kept running into each other that day and I made sure we talked every time. Mary was both leery of me and drawn to me. She didn't know whether to avoid me or kiss me. So she settled for something in between. We settled into an awkward dance of my asking her out and her saying no. Sometimes it was no, other times it was NO! If I got too close she pushed me back. She seemed to be hesitant for two reasons: One, she thought I was crazy and two there was Steve, a long time boyfriend back in Ohio. There was also Larry, another guy back home who had been trying hard to steal her from Steve. This beautiful, sweet and innocent young girl had more men chasing her then was healthy. Meaning, it was unhealthy for those of us chasing her. Had they not been 500 miles away I'd have fought them all. I was sure they would fight back. This gal was worth fighting for.