From a two room school house, working on a cruise line, nursing, Rod Stewart, the Titantic, the White House, Noah’s Ark to the Texas Hill Country

Once upon a time, Loralyn “Dodie” Bailey was a 5-year-old pre-first grader at Jack and Janet, a private, two classroom school in south San Antonio, Texas.

It just so happened that another  5-year-old, a  boy named Jackie Dennis was in the first grade classroom next to hers. That is where their true life fairytale began in 1961.

When Dodie was a 15-year-old sophomore at McCollum High School ten years later, Jack asked her for a first date–to go see singer Rod Stewart in concert.

Her parents said, “No Dodie! You’re too young to date.”

She was devastated and Jack was heartbroken. Life went on.

45 years, 6 months, 11 days later, Dodie and Jack finally went on their first date–to see Rod Stewart in concert at the Colosseum Caesar’s Palace in Las Vegas!

Here is the set list of that show:

1. Infatuation
2. Having a Party
3. Some Guys Have All the Luck
4. Tonight’s the Night (Gonna Be Alright)
5. Forever Young
6. Maggie May
7. Rhythm of My Heart
8. Rollin’ and Tumblin’
9. Downtown Train
10. Ooh La La
11. The First Cut Is the Deepest
12. You’re in My Heart (The Final Acclaim)
13. Have I Told You Lately
14. Nutbush City Limits
15. Do Ya Think I’m Sexy?
16. Sailing
17. Sweet Little Rock & Roller

The next day, December 1, they visited the Bodies exhibit and the Titanic Museum at the Luxor Hotel and Resort.  They learned that on Dodie’s birthday in 1998, a group began a mission to lift the nearly 20-ton section of the Titanic, now known as the “Big Piece.”

It was successfully raised on Sept. 10th that year by RMS Titanic, Inc. after a two-year effort.

First discovered in 1985 during Robert Ballard’s expedition, the section was initially attempted to be recovered in 1996, but bad weather caused it to fall back to the seabed. It was finally brought to the surface in 1998, weighing around 20 tons at the time of recovery.

After undergoing conservation and being split into two parts for transportation, the “Big Piece” was displayed at several locations before becoming a central exhibit at Titanic: The Artifact Exhibition at the Luxor Hotel in Las Vegas, where it remains on display today.

The exhibit has attracted millions of visitors, offering them a direct connection to the historic ship through this significant artifact.

Needless to say, it was an awesome first date.

Not long after Jack originally asked her out in 1973, he graduated and went on to Southwest Texas (now Texas State University).

When Dodie graduated in 1974, she studied in San Antonio, went on to Nursing School in Houston, became a nurse for a cruise line in the Bahamas and Caribbean, transferred to Vail, Colorado and settled into Phoenix, Arizona.

For 38 years she had various experiences from neonatal, operating rooms, maternity training to school nursing.

She married and raised two children, Jackson and Bailey, who both live in Arizona.

Jack raised his family in Boerne, about 30 miles northwest of San Antonio.

During that entire time, Dodie and Jack had only seen each other two times at All-70s reunions of their high school. Now, both single, there was nothing holding him back from asking her to FINALLY see Rod Stewart.

For awhile Dodie and Jack racked up airline miles traveling back and forth between Arizona and Texas.

In Texas, Dodie accepted Jack’s proposal on her birthday, September 6, 2019.

On Jack’s birthday, December 5, 2019, they married in a beautiful prayer sanctuary garden at First Baptist Church of Boerne, Texas.

When the Covid Pandemic hit a few months later in 2020, they moved to a rural area deeper into the Hill Country and quickly decided to go on a roadtrip.

“We were not going to let the forced restrictions slow us down,” Jack explained. “So we decided to take our honeymoon. We road tripped for over a month, traveling through 21 states, taking in the beautiful sights and going wherever we wanted.”

Highlights included:

● Highway 61 (Blues Highway) and Natchez Trace of Mississippi

●Elvis Presley’s Graceland in Memphis

●Jerry Lee Lewis’ Ranch

● Elvis birthplace in Tupelo

● Pigeon Forge & Gatlinburg, Great Smoky Mountains

● Andy Griffith’s home in NC

● Washington DC (saw President Trump’s Marine One helicopter flight from White House to airport to take him to Mount Rushmore for July 4th)

● Daniel Boone’s gravesite

● The Ark Encounter, Kentucky

● Uranus, Missouri

● Branson, Missouri

● Ft. Smith, Arkansas

● Oklahoma City Bombing Memorial

Today, they are involved in church and local social activities including heading up a Griefshare ministry, for those struggling from deaths of loved ones.  Dodie attends yoga, baking, astronomy, nature and other classes available in the vicinity. She writes and proofreads CleverJourneys daily. 

Dodie’s lifelong dream of retiring in the Texas Hill Country and roadtripping across North America is a true Cinderella story, dream come true.

Little did they know they would soon be grandparents to Melody, Carter, Matthew and in January 2025, Carter’s little brother.

☆☆☆☆☆

IN GOD WE TRUST

Thanks for supporting independent true journalism with a small tip. Dodie & Jack

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Dodie & Jack Dennis are regular customers of Green Pasture. Highly recommended.

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