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Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883
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Love Stories: Vinnie and Barb Beck

Vinnie and Barb Beck have been married 50 years. They started as pen pals when he was serving in the U.S. Army in Vietnam. The box contains letters after they met in Seattle. (DAN PELLE/THE SPOKESMAN-REVIEW)
By Barb Beck For The Spokesman-Review
Vinnie and Barb Beck have been married 50 years. They started as pen pals when he was serving in the U.S. Army in Vietnam. The box contains letters after they met in Seattle. (DAN PELLE/THE SPOKESMAN-REVIEW)

We met through mutual friends. Vinnie was serving in Vietnam and our friends suggested I write to him as a pen pal. I did and he wrote back. After he came home we lost touch with each other.

Fast forward to Christmas 1969. I was spending the holidays in Seattle with family. Our friends who lived in Spokane said they were coming to Seattle to see me, and Vinnie was coming to finally meet face to face. We spent four days together in Seattle doing tourist things. Before they left to go back to Spokane, Vinnie gave me $20 to come to Spokane on the Greyhound.

I spent the weekend in Spokane, meeting all of his family and friends. Saturday night we went to Ratskellers in Coeur d’Alene. After we got back to Spokane, he asked me if I wanted to marry him … my response “I guess so, I have nothing else to do.” (I was 23 and an old maid by Utah standards). I went back home to Utah via Seattle and told my parents I was getting married, of course they didn’t believe it. From January to August 1970 we wrote lots of letters, a few phone calls and three visits with each other, including the time we got married, on Sept. 11, 1970 in Ogden, Utah, and then made our way back to Spokane where we still live.

We celebrated our 50th anniversary this past September. It was meant to be.