This RVing couple recently celebrated seven years of marriage at FMCA’s 106th International Convention & RV Expo in Perry, Georgia.
By Debbi Whitehead, F466379
June 2023
On March 17, Don and I celebrated our 7th anniversary. March 17 is lucky, and so is the number 7, so we were lucky to spend our lucky day in Perry!
Don and I met through ham radio in 2002. Don and his first wife, Carol, and Roy, my first husband, and I enjoyed camping and attending ham radio events together. Sadly, Carol and Roy died of cancer in 2010 and 2015, respectively. Roy had asked me if I’d carry on with our RVing retirement dream of becoming half-timers. I answered yes, but certainly not in our 40-foot fifth-wheel and crew-cab diesel pickup!
One evening, after I came home from our local ham radio club meeting (the first time I’d gone without him), Roy told me it was “okay to be in another relationship after I’m gone, and if I could pick someone out for you, it would be someone like Don Whitehead.” I wasn’t interested in any other relationship, having been happily married to Roy for 43 years.
After Roy died, Don checked on me now and then. Meanwhile, I traded in our fifth-wheel for a tiny Type B motorhome. In time, I came to discover Roy’s recommendation was a good one! Don and I got married on the luckiest day in 2016. We traded “his” motorhome and “her” motorhome for “our” motorhome, and we are on the road for about half of the year.
Don and I are members of FMCA’s Amateur Radio Chapter. He is a U.S. Army Vietnam War veteran and has a disabled daughter who is now 50 years old and goes everywhere we go. Aimee loves RVing! I bring several craft projects on each outing, such as cross-stitch, stamping, and sewing. We have made many travel memories in the seven years we’ve been together, averaging 130 RV days a year. We love attending rallies, visiting national parks, and touring historic sites.