Christine and Keith met through mutual surfing buddies in Galveston during the summer of 1996. A few months later, when she had a flat tire near his apartment, he helped change her tire and taught her how – just in case. (A good move since she had eight flats within the next year and a half!)
Since she was only 16 at the time, Christine suspects her dad’s first grey hairs were due to this older guy showing up on the Villere doorstep with his various piercings, a weird haircut and the look of trouble. Even so, Keith persistently wooed her by sending her roses, buying her rubies (her birthstone) and taking her on dates. While they enjoyed movies, bike rides on the seawall and sunsets on the beach, those were also crazy times and Christine’s parents probably (and rightly!) worried.
Young and invincible, rebellious and immature, both Keith and Christine lived wild lives, resulting in an intense, combative relationship. At times they lived near one another, sometimes not, as he often worked out of town and she moved here and there on a whim. During the late 1990’s, they maintained a long distance relationship that included Christine’s travels to and from Georgia where Keith and his dad operated a construction company. Finally their dysfunctional relationship reached an intolerable level of pain and heartache and they separated for a time.
Yet unbeknownst to them, changes were happening to them both, and in March of 2004, Christine received an astonishing phone call. Keith, totally sober, was calling to right the wrongs he felt he had caused in their relationship. Though skeptical, she decided to see what all his talk of God and a spiritual writer named Emmett Fox was about. Meeting him for lunch on his April birthday, she discovered that Keith’s new life direction was for real. By her birthday in July, they were a couple once again … but with a difference.
In the months following their reunion, Christine too made a conscious choice to commit to a sober lifestyle. Together they began developing the foundation for a deeper relationship based on a new set of rules for living. A few years later, prompted by the chaos and property damage of Hurricane Ike, they realized it was time to reevaluate where their relationship was going. They examined their individual values and the values they shared as a couple. Most important, they redefined their relationship according to what they needed and wanted it to be, not dictated by the relationships of other couples or the expectations of society.
They sought to develop a partnership with contributions differing according to their unique gifts. They began to improve their listening, to consider one another’s feelings, to respect one another’s attitudes and emotions, and ultimately to recognize and receive the love each other had to offer. They even overcame the troublesome hurdle of learning to focus upon their own behavior, owning their part in conflicts and making amends. Over the last eight-plus years of their “new” relationship, they learned that they couldn’t make such significant changes in isolation. Both individually and as a couple, they consequently enlisted the support of others on a similar path. They are deeply grateful to all their friends who have been present with listening ears and with wisdom gained from their own lives… rather than unwanted advice.
The lifestyle at BaileyVille Farm today doesn’t include a television - partly because Keith and Christine don’t want the craziness of reality shows and other programming to remind them of how they once lived. They’ve also found they don’t need a TV because there’s never a dull moment when you have your best friend beside you, scores of hobbies to choose from and boundless energy for participating in life. Giving all the credit to their Higher Power for their ongoing transformation, they anticipate a path of growth throughout the years of their marriage in which they will not only love and support one another, but be of service to others and positive contributors to society and the world.
As part of their wedding preparations, Keith and Christine wish to share this story of their rocky journey in order to encourage others. Perhaps their experience, strength and hope may prompt someone else to seek the solutions so readily available for addictions and for those struggling in dysfunctional relationships like theirs once was.
Christine and Keith would like to leave you with the following quotes they find true for themselves and their relationship, as well as inspirational. Please enjoy:
