By Cherie Forte
I used to watch him play his banjo in the pods at Mitchel L. Black Elementary. Our mothers knew each other and worked together at Spartan Electronics, but we never met each other until we attended Parrott Middle.
In 1984, we became boyfriend and girlfriend. At my 13th birthday party, he gave me a T-shirt with a unicorn on the front and on the back it said, “Eddie -n- Cherie” and a ceramic unicorn. (I still have both) The party was at ABC Pizza. We snuck away to Larry’s Boot Shop behind the wooden fence next to his shop to have our first kiss. We had a fun relationship until the 2nd half of 8th grade when my parents moved us to Bradenton. We were so young, and the distance was too much for us, so we ended it.
We dated a bit around 18 years old, but it didn’t last because we still lived too far away from each other. We both met other people had relationships, marriages, divorces, and kids. One day in 2000, Eddie decided to try my grandma’s old phone number to see if he could find me. He spoke to my mother for a while and left his number with her for me to call. I did. We became inseparable. We moved back to Brooksville and brought our children together, and had our own baby girl and made a beautiful family.
We are now in our 50s, empty nesters and our love is stronger than it’s ever been. He is truly the love of my life, soul mate, and I am his. We get along so well, we do everything together. When we are not working, we are usually in the water together. We are best friends and have a beautiful life together. I am so thankful for the love and respect that he has always given me!
