Monday, April 11, 2022, is mine and Ben’s 35th wedding anniversary! Wow! In a lot of ways, it feels like we’ve been together forever. (Yes, 35 years is NOTHING to sneeze at!) And yet, we are NOT the kids who fell in love all those years ago.
Ben and I met through a friend of his that worked at a store I managed. She thought we’d be great together. She was right! When we met for the second time at an event she invited me to, Ben decided to be funny and jump on the hood of my car as I was trying to leave. I wasn’t sure what to make of this guy. A few days later, he got my phone number from the coworker and spend 3 hours on the phone trying to convince me to go out with him! I finally caved figuring I owed him something for the effort.
Ben took me on a picnic for our first date and we ended up talking for hours afterwards and seeing 3 shooting stars! The next day, he called, and we met up at a park and talked for several more hours. It felt like we’d known each other for years! This was October of 1985. At the end of January, Ben proposed. He came to my work and hung a huge sign on the front window of the store that said, “Will you marry ->” as he stood in the cutout!
I, of course, had to do it up big when I said yes, so I kept him waiting! One day, as we were walking through the mall, I asked Ben if he wanted a cookie. He said no and kept walking. I grabbed his hand and said, “Ben, read the cookie!” There in the window was one of those large chocolate chip cookies with, “Ben, Yes! Becky” piped in frosting on top! We got engaged and were married in April a year later.
Look how ridiculously young we were!
Three years later, our son Chris was born. Twenty years later in 2010, our second “child” was born, Starrlight Mead!
It’s been a wild ride through those 35 years, not the least of which is opening and owning a business together. Not many couples can survive that! Luckily for us, we each freak out over different things, so there’s always someone to be strong. We also have very different interests and skill sets, so they complement each other in really good ways. Every once in a while, we step on each other’s toes as we’re running the meadery. But most of the time, we stick to our side of the business seeking the other’s advice often.
What’s next for B & B as they are known in the family? Retirement, maybe, someday? (Haha, yeah right! Ben taking “time off”… not!) Don’t fret mead lovers, that day is still far off!