LOVE AT FIRST BITE: by Shirley and Al Breaw

Wedding: October 3, 1986

We’ve heard a number of people say that they felt our 50^th reunion was the best. I’m sorry, but Shirley and I totally disagree. The best reunion we’ve had was the 20^th. Two people that HATED EACH OTHER a whole bunch got reacquainted and realized that they DIDN'T HATE EACH OTHER as much as they thought they did.  In less than 2 months we will celebrate NOT HATING EACH OTHER for thirty years. 

Next Stop Tucson!

Sold! Relocating

It was September, 1986.  I’d just sold my barbershop in Rapid City and we loaded my van with my guitars, amplifiers, a PA system and 3 pairs of clean socks (maybe 4?). Destination -- Tucson, Arizona. One week later we were married, and the rest is HYSTERIA! 

Shirley worked for a company called Research Corporation (28 Years), and I had to first get an Arizona barbers license and then a job. I found some musicians and started playing before my license was obtained, so that helped some.

Barbering in Tucson

My first job was with 2 older barbers that wanted to only work part time, so I was able to work full time and still have Saturdays off, which made it a lot easier to play Friday and Saturday nights without having to get up real early Saturday mornings and go to work.

The fellows that I worked with were Erik (from Sweden) and Bob (from Canada), and they had both done quite a bit of traveling. Erik would tell me about different places that he’d been to, and it sounded very exciting. That may have been one of the things that got us started. We became very good at getting lost and have experienced this in places such as:  Rio, Beijing, Shanghai, Moscow, Istanbul, Cape Town and others.

Ahhh!  Just a little Bite My Sweet!

Last year we did kind of a sentimental trip. When I was a kid, I saw as many of the Dracula movies as I could and loved them all, so we went to Transylvania (Romania). The area is very beautiful, but as they say, “Time changes everything!” As we were leaving Dracula’s castle, I noticed this gorgeous ski resort. I hadn’t remembered it from the movies. Oh well, that’s progress.

35th Reunion: Shirley & Al in middle, Mike Murray far right

One thing I hadn’t realized when we got married was that Shirley is an excellent singer. She can also harmonize with gas. (That’s better than what I might have said.) We haven’t done a lot together musically (not as much as I would like to have done), but we’ve had some good times doing as much as we have. One of the really fun nights we had was playing for our 35^th reunion in Scottsdale. We were also fortunate to have good friend and fellow classmate, Mike Murray, play with us that night.

We both retired about 6 years ago and feel that sooner would have been better, as I’m sure a lot of you feel also. One of our hobbies is going to estate sales. Several months ago we were on the way to some sales and passed by the fairgrounds and noticed they were having an RV show. We had plenty of time so decided to check out the show. To make a long story short, we ended up buying a motor home and are waiting for the weather to cool off a bit so that we can take our kids:  Carmen Louise (6 year old Chihuahua), Hunter Louise (16 year old Westie) and Howard Louise (2 year old Border Terrier), load them up and go camping. At our age, when you use the same middle name for all of your kids, it’s easier to remember.

Al & Shirley Breaw, Happy in Tucson!

I guess it’s time to close and, although we preferred our 20^th reunion for obvious reasons, we had a great time at the 50^th. If any of you are planning to be in Tucson, send us an email, and we can possibly get together and lie to each other. Our email address is:  sbreaw@hotmail.com. It’s probably better to send an email than to call as we’re not quite as “Phoney” as we used to be. Take care!

Al & Shirley