Hanging out with friends at the Lake of the Ozarks strip 43 years ago, Curt and Marian Bridges met on a Memorial Day weekend and married six months later.
Each year, the McGirk couple return to the site on that weekend.
In their 42 years together, they have never stopped enjoying spending time together.
Presently, the couple devote much of their time to volunteer work with the River City Habitat for Humanity and the California Cargill Cares food pantry.
The pair are known for their positive attitude - Marian likes to chit-chat and Curt is always ready with a joke.
Rearing their two sons - Justin and Matt- the Bridges were like many households, focused on faith and family and pursuing wealth.
Nearly 25 years into their marriage, the couple were empty-nesters and enjoying the opportunity of Curt's construction job to travel across the United States.
But they learned the value of relationships after he suffered a brain aneurism while they were living in Dallas, Texas.
"After you go through something like that, you reprioritize," Marian said. "We chose to surround ourselves with good people."
After surviving surgery that has only a 5 percent survival rate, they returned to Mid-Missouri for years of physical therapy at Rusk Rehabilitation Center in Columbia.
At first, he was able to communicate only with the blink of one eye. Since then, he has regained use of his left arm and a soft voice.
After a year of inpatient therapy, the couple knew their two-story home overlooking the Osage River was not going to suit their future needs.
That's when their son, Matt, gave them property in rural McGirk, overlooking a pond, where they built an accommodating home, designed by Curt.
Their kitchen counters are higher than standard, their hallways are four feet wide, and there's no step from the house into the garage. The Bridges' friends over time also have built ramps into their homes and set their dining tables up on blocks to welcome them.
Ironically, Curt recalled a time when he installed sidewalks, curbs and gutters for a small Mid-Missouri town. The angle on the handicapped-accessible corner was one-sixteenth of an inch off, and the inspector made him start over.
At the time, he remembered being frustrated and not understanding what difference such a slight elevation could make. Now he knows that such a slim margin of error could be the difference between rolling safely across or spilling out of an overturned wheelchair.
The combination of his construction background and his life experience has helped him as co-chairman of the building committee for the local Habitat organization.
"We teased them when we first volunteered, they were getting two for the price of one," Marian said. "He knows all this stuff, and I have the legs to go do it."
For more than a dozen years, the couple have devoted their time and enthusiasm to helping families move into their own homes through the nonprofit.
"It may take a month or two longer, (but) he has designed many of the Habitat houses," Marian said of Curt. "He has lots of good ideas."
The first house the Bridges were assigned to was No. 35, and today Habitat has passed 100.
The Bridges also have taken to the Capitol, sharing their story with legislators and encouraging change. And that they have seen many times over in the last 18 years, particularly at that building, they agreed.
For several years, Curt also served on the Rusk Advisory Board, which addressed accessibility needs in Columbia and across Missouri.
"It's an amazing difference we've seen in 18 years," Marian said. "The Capitol was the worst, but it has improved drastically over the years."
They also have been devoted volunteers at the California food pantry, dating back to when it began as a fledgling project housed at the California Eagles Club and distributed only once a month. Today they are proud to be part of the seven-days-a-month distribution project; and Curt even helped design the current, standalone facility.
"People love to see him; they know he has a good sense of humor," Marian said.