The Story of Larry & Deborah

I first spotted my handsome husband in February 2004 through our "mutual friend" match.com. Larry was "Great Deal Going” and I was "Blond Intellect.” When we connected, Larry was laid up and on pain meds with a broken collar bone from a snowboarding accident, so we spent a couple of weeks sending witty messages to each other online. These included some really awesome photos of his black, blue, and purple shoulder. Suuuper romantic. When we met in person at the White House Restaurant in Post Falls, Idaho on March 2nd, 2004 the chemistry was instant, and it didn't take too long before we knew we were going to be forever.

Not too long after meeting - when I was sure he wasn’t a serial killer - I introduced Larry to my kids Caroline and Jonathon. They recognized Larry’s awesomeness right away too. In 2005 Larry arranged a trip to Paris and London for the four of us. After asking their permission to marry their Mom, the kids were with us when he proposed to me in the Eiffel Tower on July 1st, 2005.

Larry retired from 26 years in the United States Air Force effective July 1st, 2006 and we were married two weeks later on July 15th. I allowed him two whole weeks of freedom, as he liked to say. We spent the next 15 ½ years going on so many adventures around the world, while generally trying to out-talk each other. We are both stubborn as mules and have lots of opinions. We joked many times that we were going to grow old together and annoy each other in the nursing home. We joked a lot, actually. We laughed together really well - at the world and at ourselves.

Larry's love of adventure, love of photography, and 26 years in the Air Force made him into a passionate lover of travel. Larry joyfully pursued showing the world to his new family, and he took us SO MANY places - both stateside and overseas. Larry loved planning trips for us! In our nearly 18 years together we visited 10 countries and 24 states, seeing: Florence, Rome, Venice, Paris, London, the Tetons, Yellowstone, and the Christmas markets in Germany, Switzerland, and France. We visited the Anne Frank House in Amsterdam. We followed Gonzaga men’s basketball to MANY tournaments in other states. I nearly burst a seam seeing my first humpback whale with Larry by my side. Larry took me to Tanzania and Kenya where we spent some of the most wonderful weeks of our marriage seeing and photographing the indescribable beauty of Africa, its people, and its extraordinary wildlife. With the kids we visited Mexico where we got into big enclosures with monkeys and saw the great pyramid at Chichen Itza; He took us on an eight-state trip to the east coast where we visited all the famous early American sights; On one trip we he took us to see the wonders of Yellowstone, the Badlands of South Dakota, the spectacular Devil’s Tower in Wyoming (you know – the one Richard Dreyfuss re-created on his kitchen table and his wife thought he was crazy?) and we drove together with an enormous herd of bison in Custer State Park; we visited glaciers by helicopter and went into an ice cave in Alaska. There were SO many adventures, and in the end, Larry DID show us the world. He expanded our horizons in ways we likely would not have done on our own – when we met, I had never left the country. Larry left his mark on our hearts as lovers of visiting other places and cultures.

We had SO much more travel ahead of us to SO many more places in the world. Sadly, he was taken from us far too soon… Larry was my best friend, my life partner, my travel partner, my partner in crime, my safe haven, and my soul mate. We loved each other with our whole hearts. Larry was a man of infinite patience, generosity of self and spirit, humility, honor, loyalty, grace, learning and teaching, finding humor in everything, and loving with his whole heart. Now I’m left to figure out who I am without him here, and how I can live my life in a way that exemplifies who he was, honors us both, and that would make him proud. What does that look like? I believe he would want me to travel to all the places, taking him with me in my heart. I also believe he would love it if I picked up where he left off, photographing beautiful things and animals around the world. I also think he would love for me to share his extensive collection of photos - he was too busy making new photographic memories that he never had a chance to do that. So those are the things I’m doing. For both of us - and from the perspective of a widow with a new camera and Larry’s lenses.