A Little History... In A Nutshell... The Early Years
Mary was born and raised in Oregon (which explains her webbed feet). She was given up for adoption right out of the hospital, never knowing her birth mother or father.
Her birth mother left town, never to be seen again. He last suspected location was in Illinois where she apparently passed-on in the mid 1970s.
She went through years of foster care ending up with an interesting set of step-parents. The Step-Mom was not a very caring person and Step-Dad was a long-haul truck driver hardly every around.
The family was dirt poor and Mary did not have typical childhood things growing up. Her "room" was under a staircase and her toys were extremely limited, often donated by relatives. She never had a doll, much less a dump truck!
The step-parents split when Mary was ten and Mary spent time between two very small apartments along with her step sister.
Her Father now having full responsibility for two little girls moved into a very small house (shown below 60 years later) with the two daughters and pretty much let them fend for themselves.
The Father was a good guy who pretty much said, "Do whatever you want just do not cost me any money!"
God made up for that by giving Mary amazing looks and a magnificent brain (the kids used to call her "egghead" in school because she was a straight "A" student.)
One of her elementary teachers took Mary under her wing and provided sage advice. "Work hard, get an education, and life will be good". That message stuck with her as she realized if she did not work hard, she would be stuck in a tiny town never seeing the world and probably working as a waitress or in a dead-end office job!
To earn money for school and her own needs, Mary worked in the fields as a string-bean picker, in the poultry industry as a plucker and an egg inspector, and even did some waitressing as her Step-Dad had very little money to share.
Her elementary school was lust two blocks away from her home!
Mary's Elementary School.
Higher Education Was Easy, She Just Needed Money!
After graduating high school with honors, with a major in German, at a young 17, she went off to college in Europe and became more proficient in German amongst other languages. She decided to be either a Doctor or a Physical Therapist; she wanted to help people. College was relatively inexpensive in Europe in those days.
Having no money other than what she earned at various jobs, she took up the US Army's offer of sending her to school in trade for serving in the armed forces. She went to Loma Linda University receiving her degree in medicine and spent many years in the Army in Germany doing "payback" for their funding her education.
She received a Doctors Degree as an MD in November 1979 and then completed post-doctoral studies/certifications in surgery, opthamology and opthalmologic pathology.
Mary then began serving her obligations to the US Army as a Captain in the US Army and served as a General Medical Officer. A General Medical Officer (GMO) is a physician who provides primary care to active-duty military personnel and dependents. GMOs assess, diagnose, and treat minor illnesses, injuries, and diseases.
She was married in 1979 and had three children and sixteen years later, in 1995, her husband left on a Christmas morning leaving her to fend for herself with two young children and a toddler.
This did not stop her from practicing medicine and she became the Assistant-Chief of Opthamology for the Long Beach VA. In addition, she taught medicine at USC and UCI for over 30 years. She earned a Fellowship at USC in opthamic pathology.
A fellowship is the period of medical training, in the United States and Canada, that a physician may undertake after completing a specialty training program (residency). During this time (usually more than one year), the physician is known as a fellow. Fellows are capable of acting as an attending physician or a consultant physician in the specialist field in which they were trained, such as internal medicine or pediatrics. After completing a fellowship in the relevant sub-specialty, the physician is permitted to practice without direct supervision by other physicians in that sub-specialty, such as cardiology or oncology.
She also had her own private practice in Huntington Beach.
Mary took up dancing at the behest of close friends, David and Dianne Reidy. Mary and I met in 1996 at a Starlighter's dinner dance.
More About Mary
The kids do what kids do, they moved away leaving Mary to fend for herself.
Mary's two daughters
On her 60th birthday she said, "Lookout below, here I come!"
For many years she went to the Avalon Ball and on many occasions she traveled along with my gang of dancers.
Mary would go to Catalina with the dance group.
She loves vintage clothes and often would go to the Queen Mary Tea Dances where I would be with the gang,
On yes, we also met at the Queen Mary
Her oldest son, Geoff, has two children and Mary loves them to pieces, still seeing them today as they enter college and start their adult lives.
The grandkids came along and Mary loved them.
Someone likes the beach!
She likes the beach!
After her divorce in 1996, Mary met David and Dianne Reidy through UCI and they became close friends, almost like a brother and sister. They traveled together and all loved "the good old days!"
Dianne and Mary as guests at the opening of the Wax Museum in the Nashville.
We both found out that having friends nearby is wonderful when you are going through challenges in life!
Friends for years and years!
She is MUCH MORE than just a beautiful lady; the beauty runs deep!
Vintage dancing anyone?
Meeting Mary Over The Years
Mary and I first met in 1996 at the Starlighter's Dance Club in Orange County. I was taken back by her beauty and over the years, Sue and I got to know her through the dance clubs and other dance events. She was always happy and delightful to be around.
Sue and I were already married and therefore we saw each other at a distance! For years she joined us at dances, dancing events, and several times on the wine train to Santa Barbara.
She even joined us at the Candlelight Dinner Theater for the Christmas Special in 2019. Mary was single. at that time.
2019 at the Candlelight Dinner Theater
She knew both Sue and I and saw me in action (action???) at various events including New Years Eve in Long Beach for a Big Band Blowout! She knew what she was getting into!
She had fair warning about my antics for years!
Time Goes On And In 2020, Sue Passed Away After Years Of Illness
A mutual friend called Paul in July 2020 and mentioned that like me, Mary was alone. COVID was just getting underway and we met for dinner just to say "hello!"
Mary was working at the VA as Assistant-Chief of Opthalmology (she served our country for over thirty years at the VA) in Long Beach so a short drive to Patty's Place in Seal Beach!
We began to date and a year later we married. During this period of time we discovered we were so much alike and just enjoyed each other immensely.
We decided we ought tie the knot! Getting together and blending was made easy as Mary already had many of my friends in common! I knew several of her friends from dancing already! I knew the Reidy's for years but did not realize they were close to Dr. Mary! It was a small world.
We have known the same set of dancers for decades! Mary on the left; Sue in the front! and between them is Donna who married us July 28th 2021!
We are coming up on the four years married and loving every second of the time!! In almost four years, we have been apart only one day (Mary was at a medical conference in Palm Springs).
You can see our wedding pictures on our website.
Oh my, life is just beginning!