An interview with Michelle Theer: 'Marty was really a nice guy'
Q. Where did you meet Marty?
A. I met Marty on New Year's Day, Jan. 1, 1987. . . . I had just turned 16. . . and this friend of mine that I went to school with my freshman year. . . was for whatever reason out driving around with a couple of his friends, and they were over on our side of town, and he used to always just pop in to my house. . . [and] hang out for a little while and visit. So, I guess he had said to the guys, [and] Marty was one of them, there is this really cool girl I know, let's stop in at her house, she is really nice. . . I look a mess, I have no makeup on, my hair's not fixed, I am wearing raggy old sweat pants. And I am laying on the couch watching TV in the family room. . . my mom says, "Michelle, Bob's here, and he has a bunch of guys with him. . . " So I go out into the front room, the family room, and sure enough there's Bob, and he's got, like, two or three guys with him, and I can't see any of them because I have really bad eyesight–my vision is like 25/100. . . And about two weeks later, Bob's telling me, "Yeah, this one guy, Marty, he wants your phone number, he wants to call you. . . " I said, "Well, what does he look like?" and Bob's like, "Well, he was there on New Year's Eve," and I was, like, "Yeah, but I didn't get a good look at him." And, anyway, Bob gave him my phone number, and we ended up talking on the phone for a couple weeks, and then we finally went out.
Q. What attracted you to him?
A. Well, once I finally got a good look at him.
Q. A handsome boy?
A. Yeah, you know, he was really a nice guy. He wasn't a jerk. A lot of guys in high school are really jerks; they think they gotta be tough, macho guys. You know, he was just a genuinely nice guy. He didn't act like he had to be something special. . . . We just always had something to talk about.
Q.Did you click right away?
A. Yeah. . . .We did click right away, and I mean right away, I know that I wanted to see him again. . . . We dated that whole semester, and he graduated, and then he went to the Air Force Academy, so we started a long-distance relationship pretty quickly.
Q. He was in Colorado Springs?
A. Yeah.
Q. So, in your senior year, he is at the Air Force Academy?
A. Yeah.
Q. How do you get back together? Do you go down to Colorado Springs in your senior year sometimes?
A. Yeah . . . We wrote letters every day for the whole four years. . . there was only really a couple weekends that he was able to leave or that I got to really spend time with him. . . .
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