Celebration in Outreach!

Submitted by Jeanine Thompson

What a joy it is to help celebrate the 62nd anniversary of our favorite couple in Outreach! This is part of their story.

Mr. Herb and Ms. Drucilla both live in separate sections of one of our assisted living stops. He has mobility and health issues, and Mrs. Drucilla opted to move into the facility so they could stay together. She has no health issues, so she lives on the opposite side of the facility in a shared room in order to be close to Mr. Herb and visit him every day. Mr. Herb calls Ms. Drucilla "the most incredible person in the world."

Outreach gets to visit their facility twice a month. We do two Golden Hours, one on each side of the facility, and we deliver books to those who wish to receive them. Mr. Herb and Mrs. Drucilla trade the books that we bring to them. Between the two of them, we take about 20 books each month. Currently they have 23 total checked out! One of the highlights of Golden Hours at their facility is hearing the many wonderful stories Mr. Herb and Ms. Drucilla share about their life together.

Mr. Herb met Ms. Drucilla in Atlanta, GA. According to him, he was in the ROTC program in Princeton, NJ, where he grew up. “The ROTC papers I had to fill out had the option to choose where I wanted to be stationed for the army, and I checked the box beside “Europe”, because I had never been to Europe. So they sent me to Atlanta, Georgia instead. I had three roommates in Atlanta, and I told them I could get my own dates and that I did not want to ever be set up on a blind date. I was on the phone with a girl from New Jersey when one of my roommates and a friend of his came in with their dates. Drucilla was the date of my roommate's friend. The next day, my roommate set me up with Drucilla, even though I was against blind dates. We have been together ever since.

“We went to a restaurant, and I wanted to test her. I said to her, “You talk funny!” Without any hesitation, she shot back at me, “You are the foreigner here, not me!” I knew then that she was the one! Most southern women apologize for everything. Don’t apologize for who you are. I am trying to teach the girls here [at their assisted living] not to apologize so much.”

Mr. Herb and Ms. Drucilla moved back to Princeton to run a high-end clothing store. Peter Benchley, author of Jaws, was one of their regular clients. Pierre Boulle, who wrote Bridge Over the River Kwai was also a friend and client of Mr. Herb’s.

This is Mr. Herb’s advice for marriage: “Both of you need a sense of humor. Once you make vows, keep them! No messing around. Communicate every single day. Say I love you every day. Remember to stay best friends; sometimes it will feel like it’s the two of you against the world. Keep disagreements inside- don’t spread around.”

Wise words from a man who has been happily married for 62 years! Celebrating the milestones of beloved patrons is one of the greatest joys of Outreach!