About Us
Dudley and I met in 1986, when we were both living in the countryside in Southern Pennsylvania. Our homes were about a half a mile apart. Our children became friends, on the bus to school, and as parents do, we shuttled them back and forth to each other’s homes over the years.
As our children grew and found other ways to get back and forth, we saw less and less of each other.
Then I heard of his divorce. He moved away and we lost touch. About 2 years later, my marriage ended. My children were now grown, and I became devoted to my job.
I moved out of state for an opportunity to further my career, but after a few years of being away from family, I decided to move to Baltimore, about an hour from where my children grew up. I got an apartment in a lovely historic high-rise building and was enjoying spending time with loved ones.
I had been there around 6 months when returning home, I stepped into the elevator. As the doors closed, someone stepped in. Neither of us looked up, but I mentioned something ordinary about the weather, which made us both look at one another.
Yes, this is the elevator! When we were still living in the area, we would celebrate the anniversary of our reunion by going out for dinner at the Indian restaurant in that building, and then taking a ride in the elevator for old times’ sake.
There we were, after 14 years, fate had brought us to that state, in that city, in that building, in that elevator, at that moment. What were the chances?
We had both moved into the same building within 2 months of each other.
We both knew that something special had just happened. We were so excited that we exchanged contact info immediately and met for tea in the tearoom downstairs the next day. We talked for hours, even sitting outside after they closed. That night, Dudley asked me if I would ever get married again. I said “no”. He seemed unusually worried about my answer, but we both knew that one day it would happen. That was the beginning of the next phase of our lives. It was April 13, 2013. Think 13s are unlucky? I think not!
After dating for about a year, we put a contract on a unit in a historic cooperative apartment building. It was just a few blocks from the apartment where we met and was in need of extensive restoration. That was the morning of September 11, 2014, my birthday.
After signing all the paperwork, we left for a weekend in Cape May, NJ. A wonderful seaside Victorian town with amazing architecture.
That evening we went to see the sunset on, of all places, Sunset Beach. Dudley told me to close my eyes as he wanted to surprise me with my birthday gift. He said it was for both of us, so I thought it was a gift card to Lowes, which I was pretty excited about. But, when he told me to open my eyes, he proposed to me! What an amazing birthday that was. Of course I said yes, through tears of joy.
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On June 6, 2015, we were married at the Baltimore Museum of Art’s sculpture garden with a lovely brunch reception at Gertrude’s restaurant, attached to the museum.
As soon as the reception was over, we left for the airport. We spent a glorious week in Guatemala, on Lake Atitlan in a beautiful thatched lodge (Laguna Lodge) for our honeymoon. We wanted to go somewhere unusual and Laguna Lodge did not disappoint. The location looked like something out of a Robinson Crusoe movie and the food was amazing! They offered plant-based organic food grown and prepared onsite.
Amongst our many trips, in 2019 we spent 2 glorious weeks in France visiting Paris and Avignon, in the South of France. You can learn more about this trip and others in our Lifestyles posts.
Four days after our return from France, Dudley was diagnosed with cancer. Luckily it was caught early, but the diagnosis made us realize how quickly everything can change and that we needed to reassess our lives.
So, we sold our city home, quit our full-time jobs and moved to a small town on the Eastern Shore of Maryland. We bought a home that had been abandoned, foundation crumbling, and water infiltrating the house, but, to us, it was beautiful. The home had good bones, and outstanding potential. It also had the most amazing south facing backyard, corner lot, small barn, fenced in and an amazing Crape Myrtle. Perfect!!
We hired a local contractor to do the structural work, modify the back porch and to get the inside livable. They were supposed to be done by our move in date, but only started the week before. This created a big problem because we had sold our home and had nowhere to go. We ended up moving into 2 rooms on the second floor and lived through the entire construction. This was all very exciting…for about a week, but it did allow us to micro manage the work, much to our contractor’s chagrin. In they end they did a wonderful job so we were very happy! See more posts of our Eastern Shore home renovations in “At Home.”
Looking back, it was well worth it! We love our home, and it is a true reflection of both of us. We are very happy here and are excited to share our journey with you.
