It was 1896 when Rear Admiral Richard E. Byrd and Marie Ames met. They were 8-years-old; she from Boston, MA, and he from Winchester, VA. Even at 8-years-old, the future Admiral was a dreamer and risk-taker, with a rascally nature and adventuresome spirit reminiscent of Tom Sawyer and Huck Finn. Being brought up to be a Boston Brahmin, Marie found her life dull so naturally gravitated to Dick, and his need for a calm like-minded friend was drawn to Marie. Henceforth, they were best friends. Richard was the first to fly over the North and South Poles. He organized and ran the 1st and 2nd Antarctic scientific expeditions in 1928 and 1933, he and his men wintering over in temperatures as low as −128.6 °F. He then went on to do secret missions during WWII for the navy and much more. Marie and Richard remained firmly united as they courted, married, raised children, and lived through umpteen scares and adventures. Marie exhibited more courage than one could imagine due to his many risk-taking exploits. Still, no matter, the love letters between them are extraordinarily romantic and link them to historical events known to the public and international events not known. Marie lived with the pressures of raising four children essentially alone, in the public eye, during the Depression and succeeded in protecting her children from kidnapping threats. The couple's love and respect for each other endured; acceptance for each other's strengths and weaknesses as well as delightful senses of humor and antics between them, they survived to old age and passed quietly.
