Oilpressure

By Susan Phillips

Every time we come to IMS, at some point I find myself looking up at the suite just south of Gasoline Alley where George and I were married in 2012. It is even more meaningful to me today, because today is our wedding anniversary. 12 years ago today, George and I finally joined our lives together at probably our favorite place on earth—the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

Most know our story. We met our freshman year at UT in 1977. After dating for almost a year, we parted ways (we both claim the other initiated the breakup). After a chance encounter in 1981, we never saw or talked to each other for 20 years.

In 2001 we reconnected and it was like we had never lost touch with each other. We both had custody of our kids, and didn’t want to do the Brady Bunch thing—so we dated for 11 years and waited ‘til kids were grown and gone.

One thing I had forgotten was that George was a race fan. I learned that over Memorial Day weekend when he spent a beautiful day in Knoxville inside his room listening to the radio. His favorite drive A.J. Foyt won that day. I had forgotten all about that until May of 2001 rolled around, when nothing else mattered except for the Indy 500.

Our rekindled relationship suddenly took a backseat to Indy, and I didn’t like it. When May was over, I got him back. By the next May, I knew what to expect. Two years later, he took me (and two of our kids) to the race. That’s when my son, Eric, became a Kanaan fan. That was also when I started to get George’s obsession with this race.

Five years later, George started this site and it has opened up a whole new world for us. That’s what led us to the couple that supplied our wedding suite and even supplied the food and champagne, although I did the cake. They will never know how grateful we are for what they did.

Our twelve years of marriage have been great, except for the obvious—cancer. But George has supported me and is very patient with me at race weekends, when I walk so slowly.

Cancer is a hard test to a marriage. Unless you have had cancer before and can relate to the fatigue that can carry on for years after treatment, it is hard to imagine the I can get tired after folding a load of laundry. George has been great through all of the treatment and doctor appointments that I have had. He has been even better at keeping thing going at home when I am too tired to do things. He is patient with me as I walk much slower than he does and I am far more sensitive to heat and cold than I was before. I did get a part-time job as a baker at a local college which has helped my stamina.

Sometimes I wonder what my life would be like had we not reconnected. I don’t want to find out. Here’s to happy times and long lives!

Wedding photos by Paul Dalbey

This entry was posted on May 18, 2024 at 2:11 pm and is filed under Indianapolis 500. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.