I saw him in a crowd of people on New Year's Eve 1989 in downtown Frankfurt Germany. People he was with knew people I was with so they stopped to talk. We never spoke but I could not take my eyes and ears off of him. I watched as he commanded the crowd with his humor and grace. He quite literally was the most beautiful man I had ever seen. For the next year, I thought of him often. A year later we had both moved to Fort Walton Beach, FL. I saw him again and knew I would not let go a second time.

When we were first together, Doc had a motorcycle and so did I. We were so poor that we could not afford to do much for entertainment. We would pack a picnic and put our boys on the motorcycles and drive to the beach. Volleyball, swimming, frisbee, music on the radio, dancing in the sand, sweaty/sandy kisses in the sun, laughing until we cried, melted peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, and love. Lots of love!

Our dream is to finally have a honeymoon. We never got to go on one. Military-We were separated almost as much as we were together at times. Our three boys, furthering our education and theirs, work and more important bills always took precedence. We'd like to go to Portugal for a honeymoon. It is my mother's mother's ancestral homeland. Doc's father was lost in the Bermuda Triangle when he was 7 months old (Marine Sulphur Queen). No plaque to honor Leon Benjamin Clauser or ship. Want that!