Who knew? These two little tykes would someday grow up and become one in marriage. He was from the northside of Milwaukee, and I was from the southside. Even in these early photos, Paul and Kathy were made for each other. It’s true, you know, that God creates the perfect match. He planned it before we were even joined at His altar. He designated us to be together for a lifetime – to grow old together and to share each other’s problems, hopes, dreams and failures. They say that growing old together is a wonderful thing, because you truly become one person. I thought that saying was so romantic when I first heard it, but I didn’t count on bodies falling apart, stretch marks and wrinkles, hearing problems, communication issues, health issues. Through all of it we’ve shared a remarkable life together.

As we reach the end of that journey, I thought I’d share some of the events that made the Boecher family who they are today. Most people would consider it an average life. We were never famous or notorious. We lived with our share of problems, but the one thing that kept us together was having God as our center. Both of us were brought up in Christian families. Both were baptized. He went to Christian schools from kindergarten to 12th grade, while I attended public schools through 6th grade. In 7th grade, I must’ve needed special attention, so was enrolled in a parochial school and continued through high school. These little vignettes are a tribute to us and a record for our family to cherish. If I ever write a book about it, you’ll hear many more details about the things that kept us hopping during this life.

When we both were about the same age as the above photos, we lived in close proximity of each other, but weren’t acquainted. Our mothers may have pushed our baby carriages around the same block at one point, but we never actually met until we were Freshmen in high school. He lived above a funeral home – the family business. I lived in rental properties until I was 25 when the two of us bought our first house together. His family was wealthy. Mine made a fair amount, but we weren’t considered rich by a long shot. His home in a funeral home led to many interesting stories of wearing tailored suits and white shirt and tie. This fact probably influenced his distaste for “dressing up,” and turned him to flannel and denim in his later years – always sprinkled with some remnants of a painting he worked on. I was an apartment dweller and never failed to be well dressed, even though it would stretch the budget tremendously. The boy with a silver spoon in his mouth and a girl with a plastic one, would someday become man and wife.

His childhood was spent surrounded by death and having compassion for those who were left behind. He became one with a tender, loving heart. He had a giant playroom in the basement of the mortuary, which was turned into an archery range, a science lab and room for many dance parties after football games. He stored live garter snakes as specimens in the window well near his science lab. One day, as a funeral was in progress upstairs, the snakes escaped from their sanctuary and slithered into the smoking room, where several ladies had gathered. That brought about an end to the science lab.

I on the other hand was pinning bed sheets to a clothesline to use as a backdrop for the many plays I’d written and forced our neighbor kids to be part of. We’d make little bags of popcorn and sell lemonade at our homemade refreshment stand. Of course, I had the lead in all of the productions, I directed them and costumed them. This love of performance would eventually follow me to a point later on when I would fulfill that dream. I even had an opportunity to act as a vocal coach for one of the clowns in the Cirque du Soleil. I often thought about running away and joining the circus.

Our early years were spent in separate churches – both in the German gothic style – adorned with amazing stained glass and beautiful statuary and paintings. He was the bell ringer at his church from little on and would often be lifted off the ground while doing so. We both attended Lutheran churches. His proclaimed the Gospel while mine dwelled on the law of Moses. A pastor would rise to the height of the pulpit, where he would spew fire and brimstone and scare the hell out of me. I have always felt a strong sense of guilt for my sins. It would certainly have an effect on my spiritual life for a very long time. He, on the other hand, was receiving the joy of Jesus and His love for us.

It would be a number of years before we’d actually meet each other, but I’ll save that for the next episode of “The Story of Us.”