The Hub February 2015 | Page 12

Ginny Lundgren and Paulette Kupnicki are still in love 32 years later What was your “meet-cute”? Tweet us the story @TheHubWE #WEmeetcute and we’ll put your name in our draw for a special Valentine prize! Tweets should be received by February 12, 2015 Larry and Sylvia Dalbello met in the church choir perseverance. Ginny Lundgren and Paulette Kupnicki have been together for 32 years, and have faced their share of challenges along the way. They found each other in the 1980s, and met through Kupnicki’s sister. Kupnicki’s marriage was falling apart and Lundgren was also ending a relationship when the three women travelled out west together for some time away from life’s stressors. Kupnicki and Lundgren knew they were attracted to one another, but there were doubts. “Here’s a woman who’s married and has four kids, and I’m like, ‘So what is this? Is this a summer fling? Is this just a change of pace for the moment?’ says Lundgren. “So to get involved, I didn’t want to do that,” says Lundgren. “So we kind of hung out while she was there and then she came back to Windsor and I stayed another two weeks and…when I came back, I got off the airplane at the airport and…she’s standing there with all four kids.” Even when they decided to be together, they weren’t open about it for quite some time. There were societal pressures, and Kupnicki’s access to her kids to think about. “We were hiding all the time, we didn’t go out publicly and didn’t do much stuff,” says Lundgren. “If we were going to do anything socially, we would go over to Detroit.” Even today, Lundgren still is hesitant to hold Paulette’s hand once they leave the privacy and safety of their home. “You just didn’t do that out on the streets,” says Lundgren. “I had people come after our car, kick the car and things like that and so for years, you just didn’t do anything and you were very cautious of how you acted out in public. They were scary times and a lot of fear about being yourself.” To make things more difficult, the two could only see each other on weekends for years, since Kupnicki had her children Windsor-Essex is the backdrop for countless love stories “Piglet: How do you spell “love“? “Pooh: You don’t spell it...you feel it. “ A.A. Milne