Jeannie Out of the Bottle - Barbara Eden [91]
Soon after we met, I consulted one of my doctors, and incidentally learned that he had referred Jon’s wife Jeanine to a specialist after she was diagnosed with breast cancer. In the process, he grew to know Jon very well. In fact, when I told him I was dating Jon, he said, “Be good to him. I’ve seen a lot of husbands when their wives were ill and dying, and most of them usually run for the hills because they can’t stand it, but Jon was there with her every minute. He’d wash her hair, bring her meals, and was so good to her.”
On that first date, I quickly realized that Jon was so straightforward, so solid, and so dependable that next to him, I felt lightweight and frivolous. As a result, I assumed that he wouldn’t like me at all. But I gave the date my best shot, and we spent most of the evening talking about his work, which was interesting. At the end of the evening, he took me home and made no attempt to kiss me goodnight, so I guessed that I’d never hear from him again.
But I was wrong. He called and we went out on a second date together, then a third. Generally, it takes me several dates with a man before I sense that romance is on the horizon, bells start to ring, and my heart begins to melt. And while I’d love to say that meeting Jon was like a thunderbolt, that I fell in love with him at first sight, that wouldn’t be the truth.
We had a few more dates—romantic candlelight dinners, kisses under the stars, heart-to-heart talks, confidences exchanged, closeness established—but the moment when I knew I’d fallen in love with him now and forever was far less conventional.
We’d been invited to a Christmas party, but I was doing some night filming at the studio, and Jon came there to get me. He’d never been on a film set before, but instead of being dazzled and in awe, I could tell he was curious and, being an extremely neat and tidy man, not a little discomfited by all the on-set chaos.
He was wearing a three-piece suit and looked entirely out of place with all the crew and the actors. As he walked across the set, picking his way carefully over the cables, observing all the disarray around him, he seemed like a stranger just arrived in another world, a world where he was uncomfortable but not intimidated. A fish out of water, I guess, much in the same way as Jeannie was.
I offered him a chair, but he shook his head and instead stood and surveyed the surrounding scene with mounting disbelief.
At that point, the director started to move a big table, all on his own. As Jon watched him struggling, he turned to the crew, who were hanging around, and said, “Hey, you guys, can’t somebody help him move the table?”
No one moved, and Jon looked at me questioningly.
“They can’t help him,” I explained. “Only the props guys can. It’s a union issue, and those guys are camera crew, so their union categorically bans them from moving furniture.”
Jon thought that was ridiculous and was really upset about what he considered the unfairness of the situation. And it was at that moment that I started to fall in love with him.
Then we went on a romantic trip to Egypt together, and my love for Jon intensified even more. After that, he took me to Paris, where he introduced me to his late wife’s family, with whom he is very close. In a way, Egypt and Paris turned out to be our advance honeymoon.
Jon and I decided to be married at Grace Cathedral, in San Francisco, one of the most beautiful churches in the country, and world-renowned for its two sacred labyrinths—one in the forecourt and the other in the cathedral itself.
However, Jon and I picked Grace Cathedral primarily because of my personal connections to it. It was at Grace Cathedral where I was baptized and confirmed in the Episcopal Church, and I went to Sunday school there.
Before we could set the date, cathedral officials informed us that we had to meet with the priest there. On the appointed day, we were shown into his presence, and I told him all about my links with the cathedral. He was pleased, but then he sprang a not-too-pleasant