Arkansas couple rekindles romance on road to RGV

There is a beginning to every great love story. In the new Valley Life series "The Way We Met," Winter Texan couples in the Rio Grande Valley share the origins of their own tales of true love. Know someone we should write about? Contact Amy Smith at (956) 683-4420.

After 35 years of being apart, no one expected Don and Pauline to reconcile.

The couple met several years ago in Fredricktown, Mo., when Pauline was 13 years old and Don was 15. The two would spend time together when Pauline’s parents would take the two of them to the movies.

“My dad would give me a dollar to go to the movies, and I could buy candy, two sodas and popcorn and still have change leftover,” Don said.

The high school sweethearts were married Feb., 28, 1959, and had a happy marriage for 13 years. When Don and Pauline divorced they stayed in touch because of their children, and remained friends.

Don started spending his winters in the Rio Grande Valley five years ago. He enjoyed the warmer weather and the seemingly endless number of activities with other Winter Texans. In 2006, Don’s children were concerned about their father driving back to Arkansas from the Valley alone when the winter was over – he’d had some respiratory issues.

When Don called Pauline to announce the birth of their great-grandson on Christmas Day in 2006, he mentioned to his ex-wife that their children didn’t want him driving by himself. Pauline offered to drive back with him.

That 850-mile trek was all it took for Don and Pauline to realize that they had a lot in common still and they enjoyed each other’s company.

 “We had a good time together, and it just sort of evolved from there,” said Don, an Air Force veteran.

The couple remarried Nov. 24, 2007.

Don and Pauline Walker have two homes. They own a two-bedroom house in Ward, Ark., where they spend the spring and summer of each year. The remaining six months of the year, they live in a recreation vehicle in Mission.

Life in an RV can be frustrating unless you employ a few tricks to make it feel more like home.

“We’ve done some things to make it more comfortable in here,” Don, 69, said. “We got rid of the Euro chair in (the living room) and got two recliners.”

Their one-bedroom RV includes a spacious living area with a kitchen, dining table and a flat-screen television that hangs high above the driver’s and passenger’s seats. Don installed a TV lift to bring the screen down to eye level so they can enjoy shows without having to crane their necks to see them.

“We put our pictures up and little things to make it feel more like home,” Pauline, 67, said.

Draped over a recliner is a crocheted blanket, which gives the RV a coziness that offsets what might seem like a cold hotel room.

Many other comforts of home can be found in an RV, but in a smaller form, such as a washer that doubles as a dryer, a bathroom with a shower and a vanity in the bedroom with a sink.

“Everything that you would have at home, you have here,” said Pauline.

Don even started a little garden on bales of hay behind the RV, packed with tomatoes, eggplant and bell peppers.

And now Don always has Pauline to drive along with him to Mission for the winter.

Amy Nichol Smith covers features and entertainment for The Monitor. She can be reached at (956) 683-4420.