The year was 2000. Hank Greer told his wife, Kathy, that he never read the "I Saw You" section. He couldn't believe that people really thought they were going to meet someone that way, but the women he worked with loved it. While Hank spent his lunch break fiddling around on his violin for a little entertainment in the breakroom, they read the "I Saw Yous" every week to see if someone had "seen" them. One day, they found a note matching Hank's description.
Name that tune
You: standing outside the Federal Building at bus stop. WM approximately 40YO, stylish brown hair with mature graying, holding violin case. Me: WF, 30ish, also waiting for bus. Our eyes and smiles met. I'd like to play a tune on your violin.
"Of course when it comes out, the women are like, 'We thought you and Kathy were happily married. Who are you smiling at?'" Kathy remembers.
"I was thinking there's no way I'm going to answer this," Hank said. "I'm married. But I was still wracking my brain trying to figure out who did this."
Pretty soon everyone Hank worked with got wind of the ad, and they were all just as curious as he was. They kept asking him questions like, "Who are you making music with today, Hank?" but this was a puzzle he just couldn't solve.
Until he remembered something: an envelope sitting on the kitchen counter just a few weeks before the ad was posted. Suddenly it all made sense. He'd figured it out and went to confront Kathy. She confessed, laughing: "I got you so good, didn't I?"
It only took Hank a few days to solve the mystery, but neither he nor Kathy realized these ads can appear for an entire month, so Hank's co-workers caught his description and giggled among themselves from the second week in September, when it first came out, until the middle of October. They'd been married for 20 years at the time, but Hank says he and Kathy have been making beautiful music together ever since.
Hank and Kathy, married now for more than 30 years, have been playing pranks on each other for as long as they can remember. Kathy says it's what keeps them young.
"I can't think of all the little things Hank and I have done to each other, but I know we always make each other laugh and play little pranks back and forth," Kathy said. "At this point they don't even stand out because it's so routine; we always do it. It keeps us young and keeps us happy in our marriage. There are so few couples I know that are still active and happy together like we are."
Kathy said she's thought about doing it again, but knows that he'd realize right away a second time. She's thinking of an even better way to prank him. All in good humor, of course. ♦
