She Still Takes My Breath Away
“I need you to hire me a little girl for the station….the government’s on my a** about EEO around here.”
Those were the words spoken to me by Dick Moran, head of Moran Broadcasting, in my office at KJNE radio in Waco, Texas, sometime in the fall of 1992.
They would change my life forever.
You see, I then opened my top right desk drawer, where I kept all applications and audition tapes (I know, cassette tapes, keep laughing), and came across one from Deborah Beal that had come in just a day or two earlier. When I listened to her…her ability, style and charisma came through the speakers.
And it took my breath away.
I hired her immediately.
We were platonic friends and co-workers for a LONG time and then one night we decided to have dinner and I told her I’d cook. Obviously, my spaghetti was a huge hit because at some point that night we kissed.
And it took my breath away.
About a year later, I took a job in Tallahassee, Florida, leaving her behind in Texas (she had a great job in Austin). I remember thinking, “If I get there and in 3 months I don’t really miss her, then I’ll know it wasn’t meant to be.”
I think I cried with every song that came on the radio all the way to Florida. And when I got there, I called her. Just hearing her voice was like finally getting relief from an ache you’d thought would never stop.
And it took my breath away.
I knew I had to marry her, and I did-almost immediately. There are certain images you can never-nor want to-erase from you mind. At the top of that list is the way my bride looked walking down the aisle toward me in that church in Corsicana, Texas, February 5, 1994.
And it took my breath away.
There have been many breathtaking moments since. Professionally, we’ve had successes and moments together that most broadcasters can only dream of (we’ve been doing the radio show together for 24 years). Personally, to watch “the greatest wife in the world” add “greatest mom in the world” to her business card is not just breath-taking, it’s awe-inspiring.
Twenty five years…I swear we just got married. That has to be the case because this morning, the first thing I saw when I opened my eyes was her face.
And it took my breath away.
It always has.
It always will.
