By Anita Curtis
THE ERICKSON TRIBUNE

Some couples experience love at first sight and are married within three weeks. others take years to decide if marriage is right for them— like Highland Springs’ Tom and Peggy Watkins. Six years ago they took the plunge, but it took them 12 years to come to that decision. Not that they were indecisive; they just wanted to take their time.

Getting together
Their relationship began by coincidence when Peggy’s church in Abilene and Tom’s church in Arlington, nearly 250 miles apart, each planned an Albuquerque Balloon Festival excursion for older adults. In spite of the throngs of people at the festival, Tom and Peggy saw each other for the first time. Later, they would meet again when an Albuquerque church invited festival visitors for a fellowship.

Of course, Tom, a handsome eligible bachelor, “had every available female after him,” says Peggy. His determination to remain single the rest of his life backfired once he met her, even though it took a while to convince himself to give up bachelorhood. “We both had our own lives, not looking for marriage,” she says.

During their longdistance, on-and-off courtship, their families never met, but once the wedding day came, both sides were ready to celebrate. “It is the only time we’ve been able to get all of our kids and grandkids together at once,” they say.

The big decision
Tom was retired from Mobil Oil Co., and Peggy retired from her work at Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport a year after they married. That’s when they decided it was time to enjoy life and give up maintaining a home with yard chores and repairs.

“We wanted to get the best out of our retirement, to do things together while we’re still healthy. So many people wait too long,” Peggy says, “and we just wanted to be free from house maintenance. Plus, we didn’t want to worry our kids with having to make decisions for us later in life; we wanted to make that decision ourselves.”