I met Tom Burgermeister in a Bay View club near my art studio called Frank’s Power Plant. I was dancing and enjoying the music of Barb Olson, a jazz singer friend, and taking photos of her band. I nudged Barb on the break and asked her who the handsome new band member is with the beautiful hand carved bass…and she introduced us. It turned out that Tom and I knew many of the same people. When he found out I was an artist, he asked if I had ever heard of the 'Bay View Arts Tour' ~an event I created. We exchanged numbers and he soon called looking for an artist to help illustrate some of his children’s stories.

   That meeting to discuss 'business' blossomed into so much more: instant rapport, stories that melted my heart and gave insight to a wonderfully warm and witty man, with a much loved young son named Adam. Tom offered to treat me to dinner at my favorite Mexican restaurant. We still didn’t want to say goodnight after that, so we wound up that magical evening dancing at Club Garibaldi ~ which is where we held our wedding reception 2 years later.

  

  Tom met my family less than a week after our first date at my Annual Christmas Sing-Along where he joined in playing the bass. They adored him instantly, too. I was quite excited, nervous, and happy to meet about 60 Burgermeister’s just a short time after that! And so the whirlwind began.

   

  We have been so entranced by our life together that we never did work on that illustrated children’s story project. But we hope to get around to it someday. The photo I took of Tom and his Zeta bass that first day I met him is now a piece of “JazzArt” hanging in our home.