4/10/2026 (updated), Today is Diane’s birthday. I don’t think I need to post how old she is or will be. I need to post that I love her and hope today is a good day for her, a better one than she has had in a long while. This past year has had many ups and downs for her. The ups were great. She is a competitive mountain dulcimer player (as many of you know), and she won five dulcimer contests at five different fiddler’s competitions last summer. Her first up was at Mt Airy. She waited in a long line in the heat with Trish Fore, her friend, who is also one of the best Old-time banjo players around. They took the stage and won the Blue Ribbon. The next day, a downer, Diane found herself in the Galax hospital emergency room with her heart fluttering like a bird in a cage. She spent one night in the hospital, and thank the Lord, has been okay since. A couple of weeks later, Diane and Trish competed in the Dulcimer competition at the Elk Creek Fiddlers’ Convention and once again took the Blue Ribbon. About 10 days later, they were in Sparta at the Allegheny County Fiddlers Convention and won the Blue again, but that was not the last up. They won the big one, the Galax Old Fiddlers’ Convention. Trish’s old-time band, The Wildcats, won best old-time band. It was a great season. And it was capped off by winning the Fries, Va Fiddlers’ Competition. Also, Trish won best Old-Time Banjo, and once again her band took first place. With Trish’s help, Diane swept the season. One very well-known musician around here sent Diane a message after winning both Mount Airy and Galax. He said it was winning both the World Series and the Super Bowl of fiddler’s conventions. I have to agree.

Then she had another big downer, another trip to the hospital. One morning, she went numb in one half of her face and lost the bottom half of her vision. Because of her AFIB episode, we went to the hospital. By the time we arrived, she had recovered, but they kept her overnight again and ran tests. All checked out. She has been fine since.

All during this time, Diane was supporting me and my chronic ailment. I have a nasty case of eczema, and anyone who knows what this is knows it can make a person who has it, along with their spouse, miserable. It is a big downer, and ten months later, it has only gotten worse. I looked and felt awful the whole summer. She prayed, encouraged me, and talked me into competing in the Other Instruments category at the Fries Fiddlers Competition with my washboard. I fussed about that, but it was a brand new category and needed musicians to play. With the help of friends, I agreed to do it. Eddie Bond played fiddle for me, Jimmy Sutton was the tune, and I won second place out of five competitors. I give Diane all the credit for that win.

I cannot express my love for her enough. She is such a great person, the biggest heart, so full of love for me, our kids, her music, her friends, and most of all, her love for her Lord and Savior, Jesus.

Diane makes my life worth living. God sure blessed me when he arranged for us to meet. You can read about that meeting here.

Okay, I have said enough words.

I also want to post some great pictures of her. This is a photography website, after all. To that end (that is some fancy phrase, isn’t it?) I am once again posting scanned old negatives and slides, as well as newer pictures that span quite a few years, both old and new, of my beautiful wife.. And before I forget to say it:

Happy Birthday, Honey!

I cannot begin to express how much I love this girl of mine. She gives me life and love, and I do my best to give both in return.

These songs come close to expressing how I feel about Diane.

Diane and I first met one fateful day in March 1971, we were both 17. The same age as the person who wrote this song. I remember playing it on a cassette recorder in the hallway outside my study hall just minutes before I walked into the room and said hello.