Love story: Barbara and Michael Griffin

Barbara and Michael Griffin of Kings Park moved in the same circles for six years yet didn't know each other. Barbara recalls the day they met.

I grew up in Kings Park with my two sisters and three brothers. Our family owned the Park Diner on Main Street. It opened in 1942 when I was 12 and operated until 1958. Mom was the cook, Dad was the short-order grill man, and my siblings and I washed the dishes and waited tables. We lived in a very nice house behind the diner.

Mike emigrated from Limerick, Ireland, in 1954. He was sponsored by his aunt and uncle, who lived on Old Dock Road, a couple of blocks from us. Yet, Mike and I didn't meet until six years later. It seems whenever he stopped by the diner, I wasn't there. Then he was drafted into the Army, where he was a cook from 1955 to 1957, first in Kentucky and then Germany.

We first met when Mike's best friend and my best friend got married in 1960. It was at the rehearsal in St. Joseph's Church the night before the wedding. I was a bridesmaid, and Mike, an usher, was my partner. He was 27 and I was 28. There was an immediate attraction.

The reception was held outdoors at the bride's home. We had a good time together, and I ended up catching the bridal bouquet. I remember my brother saying, "I predict that Barbara and Mike will be the next couple to be married." I wasn't sure that Mike heard him. I told my brother to stop talking like that, but somehow or another I knew it was going to happen. I didn't tell Mike, though.

After the wedding, Mike went home to Ireland for two weeks. He called me for a date as soon as he returned to Kings Park. We were engaged six months later and wed on July 29, 1961, his birthday. Mike took me to Ireland for our honeymoon, and I was greeted with open arms by all of his family.

We have three children and six grandchildren. The entire family has twice visited Ireland to meet all of the relatives. Mike retired as a cook at Kings Park State Hospital in 1987. I retired as a secretary at Kings Park High School in 1999.

This year we celebrated our 50th anniversary with a Mass and renewal of our vows at the church where we met, followed by a reception at the Smithtown Landing Country Club. We love spending time with our family and are also active in the Ancient Order of Hibernians, Division 3. I served as president of the Ladies Ancient Order of the Hibernians from 2007 to 2008. Mike was the aide to the grand marshal at the St. Patrick's Day parade in Manhattan in 2001.