Love Stories: Mary Jo and Richard Woods

“Kismet.”

This year, we will celebrate our 20th and 50th anniversaries.

We met in 1972, in eighth-grade choir, and became friends as we went through high school and three years of college together in our home town of Santa Barbara, California.

In 1980, Mary Jo (MJ) moved to Wisconsin, to finish a degree in music education. Richard graduated from UC Santa Barbara in 1981 with a degree in electrical engineering, and took a job with the U.S. Navy in the San Francisco Bay Area.

Throughout the years, the two exchanged Christmas and birthday cards, and occasional phone calls, always happy to catch up.

The job moved Richard to Virginia in 1988, and MJ – still teaching music in Wisconsin – married in 1989. Richard, still single, attended the wedding. They continued to be in infrequent contact, though they progressed to emails, once the technology became available.

In 1997, MJ and her husband moved to Southern California, without realizing that – at the EXACT TIME – Richard relocated to San Diego. It turns out their new homes were within the SAME AREA CODE! It seems the universe was determined to have them be together!

Once MJ’s marriage ended in 2000, she and Richard reconnected in person, and she realized “what a prize” he was.

They began dating, and Richard proposed to MJ the day after Thanksgiving, 2001.

Less than a year later, at age 42, they were married in Escondido, California, and became “parents” of their golden retriever, named “Kismet,” because they were “meant to be.”

There, they lived until retiring early and moving to Spokane, where they acquired property and built their dream house, which MJ designed. They have adopted three miniature dachshunds, Tollie, Peanut and Jelly Bean.

Both are avid travelers, lovers of nature, amateur photographers, and life-long learners. Richard teaches occasional classes through the Community College’s ACT 2 program, and Mary Jo has ameliorated her passion for performance via participation in shows with the Spokane Civic Theatre, Spokane Children’s Theatre, Spokane Spectrum Singers and various other choral groups in the area.

They currently attend Covenant United Methodist Church, where they are on the Tech Crew for online worship services and active in the Eden Community Gardens and Creation Care teams.

Richard and Mary Jo Woods look forward to sharing their happiness in a combination 20th and 50th anniversary celebrations, later this year.