Beverly and Bob on their wedding day back in July 1968. Their journey is extraordinary, steeped in profound passion and thrilling collective expeditions. It was a fateful chance meeting initially, but it would ultimately change both their lives together forever. Every time Beverly Parsons seen Bob, she just knew, deep down in her soul without any doubt, this was a match made somewhere beyond words. Beverly has been in a committed, live-in relationship with her boyfriend Doug for three years. No… she could just not ignore the magnetic attraction she felt toward Bob.
Their destinies collided the moment Bob got out of a cab and set eyes on Beverly for the first time. Even then, she reported, she felt that “thunderbolt” of attraction that would lead to a scorching hot affair. “I told my girlfriend, ‘Something just happened to me. I stared at this man, and I couldn’t help myself,’” Beverly recounted, highlighting the intensity of their initial meeting.
Her husband Bob was also born in that same month, making their destinies even more intertwined. Soon after their first meeting together, Beverly finally got serious about her life and took a big step—going to Mexico to join Bob. Felicity’s relationship with Nathaniel developed quickly, leading to an engagement and marriage only months after they met.
For five years, Beverly and Bob wandered the cut of the Intracoastal Waterway on a houseboat, developing a new life rich with experiences that they shared. Beverly immersed herself in the local culture and even picked up Spanish as learned from a deckhand. In the process, she deepened her relationship with Bob. Reflecting on their time together, Beverly expressed, “When you live that close to someone for five years on a boat, you know them. You know you trust them. I trusted him with my life.”
He lived for several years with dementia before his death in early 2020. Despite the challenges posed by the illness, Beverly maintained a profound sense of love and respect for him throughout their relationship. “I totally trusted him in every way. As much as you might think, when you have a good partner, you need love. We surely used love, well as trust, cohesion, respect. I had all those things,” she stated.
Prior to her years raising a family with Bob, Beverly had spent a year living in the UK while exploring Europe. This adventurous spirit shaped her independence. She recalled, “I was used to making my own money. I had put myself through university. I had taken myself to Europe for a year.” This backdrop only enhanced the significance of her eventual choice to pledge herself to Bob.
Beverly’s father recognized the depth of her feelings for Bob and noted, “I didn’t want to stop you, because I could see how much you cared.” Beverly shared that this support helped her move forward with pursuing what her heart truly desired without reservation.
Beverly had hesitations about accepting drinks from men in bars, she made an exception for Bob, whose gentle demeanor drew her in. She described him as “not aggressive at all, a very quiet, straightforward guy.” This simplicity made it possible for their profound and almost soulful relationship to develop free from needless distractions.
As Beverly remembers her life with Bob down the line, she treasures the memories of their time together. “We just had a beautiful life, beautiful friends, beautiful industry,” she reminisced. She realized the nuances in her former relationship with Doug. Sometimes she even felt like “a bird in a gilded cage.”
An unforeseen complication struck Beverly at the end of July. Then, out of the blue, she got a call from an unknown number, followed by surprise wine delivery from another anonymous giver. These experiences infused the rest of her life with joy and purpose. None of that could come close to the strong emotional connection she developed with Bob.
