"I met Vern in his cramped 1950s-style office at the back of Fairley Hardware. He sat in the middle of a cloud of smoke, pinching the stub of a smoldering Pall Mall. In his khaki pants, blue wool cardigan and plaid Brooks Brothers shirt, he looked like the picture of 1950s middle-class America, complete with oak desk, leather briefcase and wool hat. I liked him immediately."
"It sounds corny, but something about Vern was magnetic. His eyes sparkled and I found myself feeling lighter, happier, and more confident in his presence. By the time we finished lunch, I felt like skipping home. Six months later, the day Vern kissed me, I felt electricity down the back of my neck, all the way to my toes. I flipped head over heels."
"A friend's parents warned me that Vern was about to ruin my life. Members of my own family were outraged. Not only were my parents shocked by my plans to marry Vern, but they made bad jokes about us. My father thought it was hilarious to say things like "I think your mother has the hots for Vern." Then he'd jab her in the waist with his elbow and my mother would giggle."
I was 24 and working for the Ohio State Historic Preservation Office when I met Vern, a 56-year-old who ran a small chain of hardware stores after I showed a film to the Retail Merchants Association and Chamber of Commerce. He invited me to lunch, joked he was 'looking for a preservationist,' and impressed me with his 1950s-style office, clothes, and smoky Pall Mall habit. Vern felt magnetic; his presence made me lighter and more confident. Six months after we first met he kissed me and I felt electrified; we married a year later despite warnings, jokes, and outrage from friends and family.
Read at BuzzFeed
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