LIVING HISTORY
Nestled between the Atlantic Ocean and the Indian River, the House of Refuge offers a picturesque landscape for events.
16
LOVE AND ROMANCE
local history. On throwback Thursdays, he posts historical
photos and news about the Treasure Coast on Gilbert’s social
media sites.
“There’s something special about how there’s that fullcircle
feeling of how this can open another space for people
to not only learn about history, but to spark some romance as
well,” she says.
FINDING LOVE AGAIN
When Linda Terry sat down at her computer in February
2016, a childhood friend reappeared into her life. She was on
Facebook and out of the blue, received a friend request from
Mac McNutt.
“So, I texted him back and I said, ‘Are you Kenny McNutt
from middle school in Sandusky, Ohio?’” she recalls. “And he
said, ‘Yes, I am.’ So that got the ball rolling.”
Mac and Linda’s 50-year high school class reunion was
coming up later that year. Mac reached out to Linda, hoping
she would have information about the upcoming event. The
reunion committee had lost contact with him over the years
because he moved so frequently.
“I asked him, ‘Are you going to the reunion?’” Linda remembers.
“Mac said, ‘I’d like to because I’ve never been to one.’”
Linda sent him the information about the reunion and then
asked where he lived. Her home was in Mississippi. She could
hardly believe her ears when he told her Stuart, Florida.
“I said, ‘You’ve got to be kidding me!’” she says. “‘Well, I’m
planning to retire to Stuart in 2017.’ So, I’m thinking, ‘Oh good!
When I move to Stuart, I’ll have somebody to do stuff with.’”
Both were widowed from previous marriages. The couple began
chatting frequently over the phone for several months after
that, and then Mac decided he wanted to see Linda in person.
“I told her, ‘I’m going to give myself an early birthday
present,’” Mac says. “‘I’m going to come to Mississippi and
see you.’”
When Mac and Linda saw one another after so many years,
HISTORICAL SOCIETY OF MARTIN COUNTY
it was as though time had stood still. Their relationship
quickly developed from that moment on.
“He said, ‘I think I’m falling in love with you,’” Linda says.
“Neither one of us said, ‘Wait, step back, it’s going too fast,’
because it didn’t feel that way. We both felt that it was right.”
Circumstances fell into place. During that spring, Linda’s
employer offered her an early retirement opportunity, so she
accepted it and put her house on the market. It wasn’t long
afterwards that Mac proposed marriage.
Later in the fall, the couple attended their high school reunion
in Ohio. And not wasting any time, they journeyed to
Stuart to quickly plan for a November wedding.
LINDA GEARY
Linda and Mac McNutt celebrated finding true love again at the House of
Refuge, with Ed Galante officiating.
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