Where Mercy Is Shown, Mercy Is Given - Duane Dog Chapman [11]
“I can’t look right now, Beth.” I didn’t want her to know I was nervous. I have an awful fear of heights, and I was afraid to look down.
“Oh, Duane, honey. Look how pretty this is!” Beth was enamored of the majestic sight of the glistening blue Pacific crashing against the rocky shore. I could see cliffs for miles ahead of me. Admittedly, I wanted to look, but I simply couldn’t without steering us right off the edge.
OK, I have to let you in on a little secret. My entire family thinks my driving is terrible. If you watch my show, you might notice I’m hardly ever behind the wheel. So now that you know this, it’ll make sense that while Beth was oohing and ahhing over the scenery, I realized her knuckles were white from holding on for her life.
“Weeeee. This is so much fun, Big Daddy,” Beth squealed with joy, all the while quietly hoping I didn’t drive us to our death.
When we got to a safe place to stop, I decided to pull over. My nerves were shot and I needed a smoke.
We made our way to our first stop, Santa Barbara, where we spent the night at Bacara, a beautiful hotel that was set way back off the road. All of the porters and doormen were wearing top hats and white gloves. The only time I’d ever seen men wearing white gloves was during a crime scene investigation. Beth explained that the staff dressed that way because it was a fancy hotel and wearing gloves like that was considered very formal. I’ve never been the type of guy who needed glitz and glamour, but my wife loves staying in fine hotels, so I usually just go along for the ride. Since this was supposed to be a celebratory trip, I did my best to enjoy it.
It wasn’t hard. Our accommodations were gorgeous. There was a grand piano and a fireplace in the living room and another big fireplace in the bedroom. The place was romantic and inviting in every way.
Outside, I could smell oil burning from the refineries off in the distance. I was standing on the patio taking in the scenery when I suddenly saw a deer eating in the woods about thirty feet away. There’s something about being in the center of nature like this that I find especially calming. I have a special connection with animals and nature that’s hard to describe. It’s a trait that I share with my daughter Bonnie Jo, who loves the outdoors even more than I do.
Later that afternoon I met a man from the hotel who showed me how to feed the falcons that were all around the property. I even got one of the birds to fly up to our balcony and eat right out of my hand. Just before sunset, Beth and I took a walk along one of the nature paths around the perimeter of the resort. It was freezing and the wind was blowing hard. Long hair and wind don’t mix. However, we were able to run back to our room and get warm…if you know what I mean.
Even though we’d been married a year, it still hadn’t really sunk in that Beth was my wife and I was her husband. The Bible says that if you’re going to live with a woman, God will give you a divine blessing if you commit to her forever and take her as your wife. Beth and I had been together for fifteen years when we decided to make it official. The time had come for us to make that commitment to each other. Our youngest children had begun to ask us why we weren’t married. And Beth was being referred to as my “life partner” or “sidekick.” Those descriptions weren’t fair to her, either. In my heart, I always knew Beth would be my forever wife. It was time to make it official.
Our first year of marriage went by so fast. Nothing really changed between us. Life was pretty much the same as it had always been. We were knee-deep in raising our children, running our bail bonds business, shooting our show, and fighting the charges in Mexico and the United States. The stress of the case was taking a toll on us. The timing of this trip couldn’t have been better, as we would be totally relaxed and ready for a much anticipated meeting at the end of our journey.
When we got to San Francisco, I wanted to go back to Golden Gate Park, where I got arrested when I was