Their Story
Richard was commuting from Akron. I was living on campus. We met at a required philosophy class at 8 AM, probably the only early class I had in 4 years! Dr. Politela seated the students alphabetically so we were assigned adjoining seats. Richard's arms were scarred with fresh scratches immediately recognizable to a cat lover. He had a kitten at home and I really missed my cat so we had something to talk about but I had already been struck by the thunderbolt. Next quarter I took advantage of my little job for Dr. Bixenstine running subjects in a game theory study to schedule this guy for a time slot while I was working in the lab. We were married two quarters later and commuted our senior year.
We were together as life partners and work partners for 59 years until his death in July, 2019. Philosopher Joseph Campbell says marriage changes people from two individuals into a new entity. I think I understand that and I also think it is impossible to return to one's individual state. But it we had a good run! I believe I'll remain unwhole without him.