LET'S TALK ABOUT LOVE

By Ellen M. Lennon

Courtship and love may have changed over the centuries, but some old adages still seem to hold true for one, that you often will find love in the most unexpected places and, for another, that it often arrives when you aren’t searching for it.

Larry Hill and Laurie Petrino met for the first time under circumstances that at first blush seem more like something out of the 19th century than the 21st.

Larry was working as a farrier shoeing horses at a farm in Chatham, where Laurie was bringing her horse to be shod. Larry was doing his best, he says, to flirt his way into a first date and had asked her out on two different occasions without success. Finally, she says, he suggested horseback riding; and Laurie laughed, thinking, What do I have to lose? I can have fun with (anyone) on a horse! That was the start of a courtship that would last two years and lead to a lifetime together. On a glorious day in late August, they rode out to Crow’s Pasture in East Dennis. There, surrounded by the beauty of nature and the view of Cape Cod Bay spread out before them, their relationship began.

Larry surprised Laurie with an engagement ring on Christmas Eve in 2006. He had set the stage at a friend’s house on a lake, placing a rose on each of the steps on a stairway leading to the water. He asked Laurie to pick up each flower along the way, as he lit up fireworks and popped open a small box holding the diamond.

I wasn’t expecting Larry to ask me to marry him, Laurie recalls. When he did ... I was overwhelmed and surprised ... very happy. The couple set the date for their wedding for the following June 16.

The setting for the ceremony was a family farm in Marstons Mills with family, friends and animals attending. A huge tent was set up to accommodate more than 200 guests. Even the dogs took part in the bridal party. Bear walked in with the groom and served as ring bearer. Jake padded down the aisle with the best man, and three other dogs Romeo, Harley, and Hank waited at the altar with the ushers. Two cousins and a niece were brought to the wedding in a cart drawn by a painted pony, and the bride and groom arrived in a wedding coach guided by two Clydesdales. The rest of the wedding party was transported by limousine.

Larry, who was born in Colorado, grew up in Marstons Mills and has worked around horses and animals most of his life. As a farrier, he travels up and down the entire East Coast from Vermont and New York to Florida. Even when he is home on the Cape, his day can start at 5 a.m. and not end until 10 p.m. He has clients throughout Southeastern Massachusetts and Martha’s Vineyard, and he is happy for the change in his routine, he says, now having his wife to come home to at the end of each day.

In addition, he occasionally works in home construction, assisting his father, for example, in building kitchens for some of the homes in Ballymeade, a golfing community in North Falmouth. And, of course, he has done considerable work on the home that he and Laurie own in Sandwich. He ripped out one interior wall and opened two rooms to create a large family room, and he erected a deck that extends the length of their Cape-ranch-style home and provides a view of the surrounding marshes.

Laurie, an animal lover, worked at Bassett Wild Animal Farm in Brewster from 1996 to its closing in 2000 and as a veterinarian technician off-Cape for a short time. She says she began to consider other career paths when she found herself getting too emotionally attached to the sick animals she was tending. She spent two years in an equine studies program but decided she could not make a career from the work and decided to pursue a career in dental hygiene at Cape Cod Community College. She now works in a Hyannis dental office and, she says, loves her career.

Like Larry, she, too, has more than one profession. In addition to her work as a hygienist, she tends to their two dogs, a cow, a sheep and three horses including a new painted pony with blue eyes named Rascal. She travels every day to two different farms in Marstons Mills to feed and take care of the animals.

A busy schedule is nothing new for either Larry and Laurie, and in fact, when they reflect on their relationship, they acknowledge that dedication and willingness to work hard were the very qualities that attracted them to one another. Each admired the other’s work ethic, they say, and they were impressed with their shared determination to achieve their goals, even before they married.

As they look ahead to their life together, they find new goals crystallizing primarily, creating for themselves the opportunity to purchase a piece of land and build a home that would allow them to be near family and friends and to keep the animals they love on their own property.

When love came calling three years ago, Mary Kate Gigliotti was in no mood for it. She was sitting alone in her kitchen, thinking about the recent breakup with her boyfriend just the thing for a cold Friday night in November on Cape Cod.

Then, the phone rang. It was her girlfriend Heather, wanting to know if Mary Kate was interested in going out with a few friends to celebrate Heather’s boyfriend’s birthday at Sam Diego’s Restaurant in Hyannis. The friend also mentioned that she was bringing someone else a guy friend to the party.

Just as long as you’re not matching us up for the evening, I can do that, Mary Kate remembers saying, but no relationship stuff. She felt she certainly was not ready for any new commitments.

As it turned out, the evening unfolded just fine: Conversation flowed; the party at Sam Diego’s was fun.
And Mary Kate met Matt Lott for the first time formally.

The next night, Matt invited Mary Kate out for a date, and they discovered that they unwittingly had crossed paths on many occasions on the Cape. Matt, four years older than Mary Kate, had played sports with her brother Joe at Barnstable High School and probably had been in her home many times. But she could not remember ever noticing him. Yet, on that first date, they found it easy and comfortable being together; they ended up talking all night long.

Looking back, Mary Kate says, I never thought I would marry a guy from the Cape. Somehow I thought I might meet someone at Assumption College (from which) I graduated. She received her bachelor of arts degree in social rehabilitation services with a concentration in psycholpsychology in 2002 at Assumption and obtained her master’s in social rehabilitation counseling specializing in high school guidance counseling the next year.

Mary Kate, who was born in Worcester, came to live on the Cape as a very young child and considers the peninsula her home. Her grandmother has a cottage in the Springhill Beach area in East Sandwich, and Mary Kate recalls the many summers she spent there as a little girl. It seemed only fitting that her family would move there permanently, she says. Both she and Matt love the beaches and have decided to stay on the Cape, most importantly because all of our families are here.

Matt was born in Tallahassee, Florida, and, when he was three, moved with his family to Cape Cod. He feels like a born-and-bred Cape Codder, he says. His education took place here, too; he is a graduate of Massachusetts Maritime Academy and works at Pilgrim Nuclear Power Plant in Plymouth.

Within a few months of dating Matt, Mary Kate knew he had all the qualities she was looking for in a partner for life. Matt’s sincerity struck her first, along with his kindness, infectious laugh, quick sense of humor and pragmatic intelligence. Matt was charmed by Mary Kate’s genuine smile, sincerity and beauty. Both agree that trust and dependability are keys to a successful relationship. I have to say, if Matt says something, he will do it; I can always depend on him. He is always there for me.

The only and brief moment of doubt for Mary Kate came when Matt mentioned that he came with baggage three female Labrador retrievers, two black and one yellow: Molly, Tilley and Blue. But Mary was bringing her own attachment to the relationship a golden retriever named Brady.

On a damp, rainy day in early April 2006, Matt called Mary Kate to see if, after work, she might want to take the girls (that is, the dogs) for a run on Springhill Beach near her grandmother’s cottage. She agreed. While the dogs were running and having a great time in the water and along the shore, Matt presented her with a diamond ring. Their parents alerted earlier about the plan were waiting by the phone to hear the news and were thrilled that the couple became engaged. They were married last August 25.

Interviewed after only a month of marriage, Mary Kate says she and Matt feel closer than ever to each other now. Marriage has brought them deep intimacy and a stronger feeling of being united in a life together. They say they are thrilled to be living on the Cape and consider it a privilege to be here.

It is such a special place for us, says Mary Kate, adding, and (it) holds ... precious memories.

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