Winning “Downtown Gilroy is for Lovers” romantic essay by Brien and Sandy Devine

“Worth the Wait!” is the title of essay describing how Gilroy couple met and fell in love

By Brien and Sally Devine

Brien and Sally Devine

“Would you like the phone installed here?” asked the school district’s new phone technician.

As a relatively new teacher who had been directed to call parents daily regarding students with homework and behavior issues, I gratefully responded, “Yes, that’s perfect.” Having an actual hard-wired, outside-line classroom phone was an extravagant, time-saving bonus in 1986 for teachers when cell phones and computers were unheard of.

Both the phone installer and I were married to different spouses at the time, and the interaction was brief, yet positive. Over the next twenty years, our paths crossed roughly every five years or so. Sometimes, Brien would be installing computers, updating software, checking classroom TVs, fixing bells, and making sure everything was working correctly and safely. I moved around to roughly 15 school sites within the district either teaching during the regular school year, for summer school, and for substitute teaching during the brief year-round school experiment during my vacation time. When fate brought us together, it was always a pleasant experience.

Then in 2002, I had Brien’s son in my freshman English class. Our paths crossed three times that year: high school registration, Back-to-School Night, and Open House. The interactions were upbeat and enjoyable, plus I respected Brien even more when I saw what a great job he had done raising his son.

In 2010, I had recently gone through a divorce, and Brien had divorced a couple of years earlier. He was in my classroom, working on my computer, during the summer prior to school’s starting, when I noticed he was wearing heavy-duty work boots with summer attire. I asked about the unusual choice of boots in 100-degree heat. Brien explained he was breaking in the boots for his volunteer Search-and-Rescue position. I was intrigued and asked more about it. We ended up going out for coffee.

We began to see more and more of each other during 2010 and discovered we were the perfect complement to each other. I’m a routine-oriented person who loves to read; Brien is spontaneous who loves technology and repairing things. In December 2010 we were in New York, and decided if everything fell into place, we would get married. Sure enough, even a record blizzard could not stop true love. Our flight was the only one that was able to land that day, we were able to schedule an appointment to be married by the Justice of the Peace, and we were joyfully married on December 29th.

Every day has deepened and strengthened our marriage. 2020 turned out to be a stellar year for us: we both retired, our daughter and son-in-law had our 4th grandchild, and we moved to be closer to them.

Life is truly beautiful in Gilroy. We have learned the key to marriage is communication, respect, and love. We feel very blessed, thankful, and excited to see what the future holds.