They say that growing old is a privilege.

If that’s the case, then growing old together is a goddamn miracle. 🤷

👉 Surround yourself with people who make you better.

And now — the story behind why this advice matters. 👇

40 years ago on October 2nd at 10am, Rick & Katy giddily poked into the City Clerk’s Office in lower Manhattan, paid $5, and got hitched.

Rick almost missed it. He had been trapped in Florida after disembarking a cruise ship, and slid into New York with just enough time to throw on a tie.

No, he hadn’t been on vacation.

He had been at work. 

Rick was a Cruise Director, a job he owed his new marriage to. Why? Because he and Katy had met working on a ship together two years earlier. And not just any ship—

The iconic S.S. Rotterdam. In Alaska. 😍

It was love-at-first “holy shit this guy is actually competent”.

Katy’s job aboard the Rotterdam was to sing, dance, and make sure the other singers and dancers did their jobs. She was the cast supervisor for the production shows on board. She worked on the ship, but she didn’t work for the ship.

And she had a big problem.

A recent renovation of the ship’s theatre had left a small hole in the stage, and the dancers kept getting their heels caught. They were all twisting their damn ankles every night as they suffered through their shows.

She went to management to try to get the hole plugged, and they brushed her off.

“Sure, sweetheart, we’ll get to it. The carpenters are just really busy.”

They didn’t take her seriously. She was just dumb performer.

After weeks of enduring the runaround, a dashing new Cruise Director joined the ship.

By this time, Katy had already re-choreographed half the shows to avoid the hole in the stage, assuming it was just never going to get fixed. But when the new Cruise Director introduced himself, his first question was: “Do you need help with anything?”

Katy shyly told him about the pesky hole, expecting him to do f*ck-all about it like everyone else.

But by the time she took the stage for that evening’s performance, it had been miraculously fixed.

And that, ladies and gentlemen, is how my mother met my father.

Rick & Katy –my parents– celebrated 40 years of marriage this week. ♥️

Their relationship began as colleagues, and that dynamic never faded. In fact, it fueled them. I grew up thinking it was weird that my friend’s parents didn't own businesses together.

I had no clue that we were the weirdos.

We were the entrepreneur family, doing crazy shit like launching an entertainment production company (what 9-year-old didn’t cut their teeth operating a spotlight?), and opening an ice rink in… Florida.

Every time my parents set their hearts on a new venture, two things were always true:

I think that’s the key to a successful business. Or a successful life, really. 

Rick & Katy are long retired, but can’t sit still — they’re constantly embarking on new projects, and building new skills every day.

So take it from them, and surround yourself with people who make you better.

Happy 40th, Mom & Dad! 🎊

Cheers! 🍻

-Kristin

P.S. — My parents aren’t the only ones who celebrated an anniversary on October 2nd. Lovely and loyal DBA reader Elizabeth Howell also did! Happy Anniversary, Elizabeth!