Patrice and I were married in my parents’ Mount Pocono Garden on August 13, 1972, a week before my 26th birthday.
Her dad walked her down the garden path. Her twin sister, Pamela, was the maid of honor, and her brother Bob, was the best man.
Patrice wore a white gown with tiny daisies along the hemline and a daisy crown.
Guest vocalist, Jeanne Steele, a family friend who’d been on Broadway in Wildcat with Lucille Ball, sang several songs.
Among the guests were Suzanne Martens, the flashy owner of Mount Airy Lodge, Aileen Sweeney of New York’s Plaza Hotel, and Senator Sam Romano of Chicago, all friends of Dee and Dale my mom and stepdad.
A few months later, working nights made my relationship with Patrice difficult.
She worked for the Triple-A Auto Club from 9 to 5 pm.
I worked Six to Midnight at WJIM Radio and TV as night news editor. We saw each other on weekends and holidays. Because her family was so large, we spent most of our time with them and played poker with her parents on weekends.
Over the next year, Patrice encouraged me to play touch football with her brother, and I ached for a few days. I drank beer with her dad and played poker with her mom. I did try to be more of a man, but it was difficult. I joined a gym and started working out striving to be more of a man, something I know Patrice wanted.
After a year, the difference in our families and our work schedules, and her renewed interest in an old boyfriend, who was more of a man, coincided with a strike by WJIM's news department.
In July 1974, 18 WJIM television and radio employees, including me, walked off the job, accusing Gross Telecasting Inc. of refusing to bargain in good faith, after nine months of negotiations for a new contract.
As the strike entered its sixth week, riddled with my discontent and sure there was little hope for us, I asked Patrice for a divorce, which she didn’t contest. Her whole family supported her.
She was sweet and beautiful but the differences in our families caused more dissention than I expected.
I had failed at my first attempt at marriage.
