Love Story

Preface:

On March 1, 2012 I went to The Vantage at Cityview Retirement Community near TCU's campus to transcribe the love stories of the elderly couples there. This is the story of Joni and Jim Roantree.

The Engagement

While courting Joni, Jim asks her to go sailing with him on Long Island Sound in New York every Saturday or Sunday. Since she knows nothing about his favorite sport, he has to teach her everything. At this time, he owns a Lightning, which is a nineteen foot daysailer with an open cockpit and center board. He turns out to be a devoted instructor. Jim teaches her about the wind, the sails, and the structure of the boat. Three months after they meet, he feels that Joni is ready to be responsible for handling the large forward sail called the spinnaker.

One sunny, cold, and windy Saturday in October 1954, they were sailing in the stiff breezes and cold, choppy waters. After taking the spinnaker down, Jim realizes that there is a problem. He asks his "spinnaker girl" to go up on deck to see what was wrong. At this point the boat is heeling over, so as Joni is crawling forward to release the spinnaker guy, she loses balance and falls under the jib sail overboard. She takes a deep breath and as she surfaces she sees the wire shrouds go by. She is lucky enough to grab hold of one. With the help of the rest of the crew, she finds herself back in the cockpit.

What a sorry picture stands in front of the boys. Joni looks like a drowned puppy with wet stringy hair. She is shaking because of the cold wind hitting her drenched clothes. Jim is enough of a gentlemen to ask her if she would like to return to the Plandome Club to change her clothes. She realizes though, it would mean dropping out of the race because the boat would miss the last mark. Without hesitation, Joni answers, "No, thank you. Let's finish the race."

As Jim relates the incident later on, he knew then and there that Joni was the girl for him. It took strong winds and high seas to find the girl for Jim. One week later, on Halloween Eve 1954, Jim asks Joni to be his wife for now and forever. Without hesitation she accepts his proposal and we announce our engagement. They were married the next spring May 7th, 1955.