I know I have mentioned our friends for many years that bought the land across the street from us and built a house there. However, I really haven't told you much about them, just little bits, here and there.
Dennis is one of the few people that I know of that has multiple degrees from college as well as certifications from multiple states. He and the Beast went to school together to get their certifications for the State of Florida for Air Conditioning Contractors. That was probably the last certification that Dennis added to his list.
Dennis was married prior to meeting Dianne. Dianne is/was a very celebrated psychiatrist. She was honored last by the governor of Georgia for her work there. I gather she worked with and was very successful treating extremely disturbed individuals. She even managed to get them off most of the medications they had been on prescribed by others. She is a unique personality and a bit strange at times. But we get along very well and always have. She met Dennis when he was still married to his first life and their attraction to each other was palpable. I know Dennis fought the attraction and even moved back to New York to be near family and other friends there but, alas, he did end up divorcing his wife and marrying Dianne.
One of Dennis' degrees is in chemical engineering. He had to have been a professional student for a while. His father-in-law was wealthy and supported the family (he and his first wife had two children) for years. He finally got that degree due to his father-in-law insisting he work for the family business. That business was Buffalo Steel company. Dennis had to oversee, as one of his duties, the contamination of the land around the plant. There HAD been a different plant there prior to the steel company and there was definitely contamination from it. He had to remove and/or treat the land to prevent it from contamination ground water.
After his divorce, he and Dianne moved to the Georgia area, bought a gorgeous A-frame on a river leading out to the ocean and settled down. Dennis ended up building one of the most incredible and unique boat docks on that river and it was built to standards you would NOT believe! When I say it was incredible, you have NO idea. It was not an easy task and he was right there, not just having people do the work but was hands on to make sure it was done correctly. That's our Dennis for you, though. It looked amazing at night when the concrete posts were lit up. The damn thing was about 50 feet out into the river. When they ended up selling the house years later, it was one of the selling features. An engineer ended up buying the house. He appreciated the effort it took to put that up in the fast moving (and rising) water. It went up and down with the tide, too.
Yes, they owned a boat and Dennis complained they didn't get to use it as much as they would have liked due to their jobs. Dianne was heavily involved with her patients as well as overflow from her partners at times. When she was honored by the governor of the state, it was her partners that urged her to accept the honor. Dianne has never liked to be the center of attention and was very reluctant. But she finally accepted it and enjoyed the special dinner that was part of the ceremony. She DOES like to dress up and enjoys a good meal.
Dianne is a great hostess and an incredible cook. Dennis has become one, too, but that's his personality. Whatever he does, he has to be as good as it is possible. When they sold the house in Georgia and retired, they actually went to the factor where their RV that they bought was being built to make sure they got the accessories they wanted in it and to see it being built.
They traveled all over the country and even into Canada. They met a lot of people and had some interesting times that I prefer not to get into at the moment. Their last stop was in the state of Texas. This is after traveling for over 10 years in that RV. They were in some border town and all you could hear was gunshots at all times during the day or night. I know that it scared the hell out of Dennis, especially when a group of psychiatrists there tried to get Dianne to work with them. She was considering it and I remember telling her.....*Are you out of your mind????* You may laugh but lots of people lost their lives just being in the way of the various types of smugglers there. She finally decided not to take the offer and they came here to settle down.
It was Dennis that was with the Beast when they originally found this place. The two of them searched all over for an ideal area, near a lake, if not on one. They looked in northern Georgia, Tennessee, South Carolina and here in Alabama. They were gone for almost three weeks. I got a report each night when they stopped traveling about the properties they saw. When they found this place (it was supposed to be for the Beast to stay in during the summer since he couldn't stand the heat and humidity of Florida during those times), I finally traveled up to check it out myself. It was perfect for what it was intended to be. I have often said that, if I knew we would end up retiring in it, I would have insisted on a bigger house. Even now, since the Beast has seen more of the area, he is sorry he didn't look further. This house was half the size of the house we had built in Florida. *Sigh* But that is water over the dam now.
Dennis is now a grandfather from his children from his first marriage. I realized the other day that we have known the two of them for over 30 years. Amazing! I have friends from high school that I usually see every year and that is more than 50 years that we have continued our friendship. But this is one friend that the Beast has known and kept for that long. It is the only friend he has kept for that long.
It was Dennis and Dianne that got him the appointment with the eye doctor (see previous blog) and they were driving. The man was so busy that it was more than three hours past his appointment time that he was finally seen. It turned out that the doctor had had an emergency last week and was seeing the patients he had to cancel today of all days. It amazed me that Dennis was able to keep the Beast calm enough to see the doctor. I know of times that he has stormed out of a doctor's office due to it just being over an hour past his appointment. He has very little patience.
Dennis, however, has a problem with his eyes that is serious so, hearing about the Beast's problem, he was the one that made the appointment for him. He was worried about the Beast's sight so he wanted to make sure that he saw the doctor. When I heard about the possible cancer located next to the inner eye, it worried me, too. But we had no way of knowing that was going on if he hadn't seen the doctor. What they will do about it has to wait until after he sees the retinal specialist about the other problem he has. It would be funny if the Beast suddenly couldn't drive and I had to do all that for him. He would hate it!
Well, I think you kind of get the idea about our friendship with Dennis and Dianne. I will get this posted. I was just dreaming about them and, when I had to get up for the bathroom, felt I had to write it down. I will admit that I don't know much about Dianne's family but I do know that she has always been used to having a lot of money. She spends it like she prints it. Dennis loves me because, when I shop with her, I manage to curb her excesses without offending her. I just ask the right questions about why she might want this or that and where she intends to put it. Sometimes she is just like the rest of us and sees something that she likes and wants it without thinking it through.
For ten years she couldn't buy anything due to living in the RV without getting rid of something she already had. Now that they have the new house and had to buy almost everything, I was amazed at her restraint. She did, however, change her kitchen chairs twice due to not liking what she had bought originally. I'm sure Goodwill loves her......LOL!
She has gone all art deco in her decor except for the kitchen area. Nothing that *fit in* did she find comfortable and she says she wants comfort now. We shall see how long that lasts. Right now she is busy planning the plants she wants around the house where there is room. She has an *eye* for that kind of thing so I know it will end up being attractive and practical since she is a great believer in plants that can survive droughts. She will do her homework on that.
Time to get this story posted. Love you all and I hope I didn't bore you very much. Be good. ***Hugs***
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