Love Story: They got to know each other riding the subway

Bobby DeName tells how he met his wife, Eileen.

I met my wife, Eileen, in 1970 on what started out as a typical Friday night for me and my friends in East Flatbush, Brooklyn. I was 19, and Eileen was 17. My friends and I would meet at Ben’s candy store on Avenue D, hang out and talk about our plans for the night. Prepared for a night of dancing, I was dressed in my finest club wear — dress bell-bottoms, Italian-made knit shirt, platform shoes and my leather jacket.

My buddies wanted to stay local and, as it turned out, one of the girls who hung out with us said she was going to meet friends in a different neighborhood and needed a ride. I suggested that I go with her and we share a taxi to her friend’s house.

When we got to her friend’s house, I first saw Eileen. She was coming down the stairs, and I thought to myself, “Wow!” Her dark hair and green eyes hit me like a lightning bolt, and my focus turned to getting to know her.

My taxi mate and I went to the club on our own, and I sat waiting and hoping that Eileen would show up. When she arrived, we talked and danced. At the end of the night, I asked to see her home and inquired whether she would be at the club the next night. She said yes to both, and I lost sleep thinking about seeing her again.

The next morning, I told my mom that I had met a gorgeous girl and hoped to meet her again. That night, I went back to the club and impatiently waited. Finally, Eileen walked in.

I asked, “Where were you?”

She gave me a look like “is this guy serious?!”

I apologized for being forward, and we spent the rest of the night getting to know each other. I took her home, asked for her number and a date. The next weekend we had our first date: pizza and movie.

That was the start of us riding the subway every day together. Eileen to Bishop McDonnell High School and me to work at New York Telephone in Manhattan. I asked her to go steady and gave her an ankle bracelet on Christmas Eve in 1970. We got engaged on a subway platform in the spring of 1972 and were married on Nov. 17, 1973, at Holy Cross Roman Catholic Church with a reception at Glenwood Manor, both in Brooklyn. Our honeymoon was in Puerto Rico.

We came back and lived in an apartment in Canarsie, Brooklyn, where our first daughter was born in 1974, and our second daughter in 1977. I began work in 1976 with New York State Parks on Long Island, and Eileen was a stay-at-home mom. After I commuted to work for two years, we moved to Sayville in 1978.

Our son was born in 1982, and we raised our family in Sayville, where we spent 38 years. I retired in 2019, and we moved to a 55-plus community in Port St. Lucie, Florida.

We have three beautiful grandchildren still living on Long Island, and thanks to FaceTime, we see them just as much as if we still lived in New York.

This year, to celebrate our 50th wedding anniversary, we’re planning a trip to the Cayman Islands. Life is a journey, and we have had ours and hope it continues for a long, long time to come.

 — With Lynn Petry