December 15th of 1980 -- I was working for McAllister & Company (type shop) in Portsmouth, NH. I had JUST moved to Portsmouth from Kennebunkport, Maine and I probably would not have gone to the party if I wasn't living in Portsmouth. Anyway, I went along with several co-workers to the pre-Christmas client party at Fishtraks recording studio which, at that time, was located on the 3rd floor of the house at Rye Beach owned by another client of M & Co. I came downstairs after a tour of the studio and standing and talking at the foot of the stairs were Denise Brown (now Ad-Cetera), designer & paste-up artist I worked with, Hal Inglis, who owned a local advertising agency, and Tom Hall, who had gone to school with Hal and was there because he was a local folk musician. I stopped to talk. Eventually Denise and Hal drifted away and Tom and I went off together to find some more wine, then ended up in a secluded corner trading songs. Shortly after, he introduced me to his banjo-playing musical partner (who was also head of printing for the State of New Hampshire), Bob Frost. The two co-workers I came with were leaving and Tom said he'd see me home. After Tom, Bob and I left the party (after receiving commemorative T-shirts), we went for a late night snack at Gillie's, a Portsmouth landmark lunchcart/diner and then, since we were in the middle of a blizzard, to my squalid tiny apartment on the 3rd floor under a mansard roof. Bob lived on the other side of the state and Tom was temporarily living in Haverhill, MA. I said I didn't have much to offer, but I had a floor. Bob always carried a sleeping bag with him, so he camped out on the kitchen floor (probably with a cat on his face) for the night. I threw Tom a snugsack and a pillow.

The next morning there was a crisis -- not only did I only have ONE coffee cup, but, since I'm a tea drinker, there was no coffee. I had to go to work, but Tom had a snow day from his teaching job and used it to find a winter rental at Hampton Beach.

And he never actually moved out. This was about as close to love at first sight as I can imagine. So, for the rest of the winter we had my squalid apartment as our "Town House" and his squalid beach apartment as our "Beach Cottage" and over Fourth of July weekend we moved into his house in Nottingham just vacated by his soon-to-be ex-wife who had just finished remodeling a little house just up the road.

The next December 15th when we were sharing a bottle of champagne to celebrate having known each other for a year, we found ourselves planning our wedding. Tom never actually ASKED me to marry him.

The rest is history -- we've been married since June 26, 1982 (at the mercy of an academic schedule) and have been merrily making music and harmonizing together ever since. Bob Frost, by the way, was our best man and is still a good friend and part of our musical circle.

Izzat what happens when a musician follows you home and you feed him?!?

Linn