Introduction
Barbra expected the bearded, curly-haired man she had seen in photographs. Instead, James appeared clean-shaven with his hair cut short. She passed him at first, then returned, ran her hand through his hair, and bluntly asked who had ruined it. James later said that was when he fell in love because she told the truth from the beginning.
The attraction did not come from a rehearsed compliment or a perfectly arranged introduction. It came from Barbra being completely herself. That first exchange gave their romance the quality it kept for years, direct, playful, and free from the need to impress.
Only three months later, James left for Ireland for work. The new couple could not rely on shared dinners or easy evenings together, so they stayed connected through long telephone calls. Barbra remembered falling asleep on the bathroom floor with the receiver pressed against her ear. The distance could have cooled a new relationship. Instead, it showed how much they already wanted one another inside their ordinary days.
Barbra later explained that the timing mattered. Earlier, she had been too emotionally occupied to welcome another person into her life. Once she finally slowed down, she felt open again. James also knew the cost of an unhappy relationship and had no interest in repeating it. They came together as two adults who understood that affection alone could not carry a marriage.
James proposed three times before Barbra accepted. She joked that she needed at least two years to try him out. Exactly two years after their blind date, they married on July 1, 1998, in the backyard of her Malibu home. They wanted people they had loved for years around them. Barbra sang two new love songs to her groom, making the reception intensely personal.
James answered with words that sounded like a man astonished by his own happiness. “I can’t tell you how lucky I am that this would happen to me so late in life. Every night is a new adventure.” His excitement was not about a wedding day alone. He spoke about mornings, companionship, and the thrill of seeing Barbra again.
Their marriage grew through practical choices. They kept separate bank accounts. James supported counseling when a disagreement needed a neutral voice. Barbra believed listening mattered more than winning. “The secret is to listen carefully. To be a good marriage partner, you have to listen. Hear the other person. Agree to disagree.”
They also accepted how differently they moved through life. Barbra took time, examined details, and searched for the right answer. James made decisions quickly and enjoyed solving problems under pressure. He loved her patience. She made room for his independence. Their differences became useful because neither demanded that the other become a copy.
During the months when they remained home together, James said they fell in love again by sharing every day. They slept late, read, worked beside each other, and found comfort in the same room. In July 2026, they marked 28 years married and 30 years since that blind date.
They nearly canceled the date, then spent three decades choosing each other.