“I used to coach at school and after coaching one day, the two of us went to have dinner, talked, and started dating for about three months on the side,” counselor Patti Henneberry said. “Nobody knew we were dating. Back then, it wasn’t really ‘cool’ or accepted to date people during work.”
But it became ‘cool’ once social studies teacher Tom Henneberry and counselor Patti Henneberry announced their engagement at prom in May of 1991. Six months later it was official; they were married. Now the couple has one eleven-year-old son, Sean.
The couple shares a mutual agreement that having children positively changes the focus of a maintaining a relationship.
“When it’s just two people, it’s lovely for them to focus their attention on each other, but when you have a child, the focus is on the child,” Tom said. “It should be and I think my wife agrees that [he] became the center of our universe.”
Although the couple can attest to keeping their relationship simple – claiming that every day is supposed to be Valentine’s Day – Tom still surprises his wife with gifts like cards and flowers.
According to Tom, the couple enjoys their trips to Wisconsin, because they can ride bikes and spend time on the beach together. Still, there are even simpler and quieter tasks the couple enjoys.
“Quieter times are always nice, too. It’s nice to just sit at home with our dogs and just relax,” Tom said.
Patti believes Tom’s best quality is his wit and sarcasm that shapes his sense of humor. When asked about annoying habits, however, Patti gave an interesting response.
“We all have annoying habits, there’s no question,” Patti said. “But for every annoying habit he has, I have two, so we can learn to look past that.”
The couple reminisces about how they never had plans to broadcast their relationship during their early days at Central, and it’s evident that translates to present-day. Even now, Tom and Patti Henneberry take their quiet and cliché relationship one day at a time.
“It is kind of cliché in a lot of ways, but I think it’s just that feeling at the end of everyday and just seeing one another during dinner that gives us peace and comfort,” Patti said.
And so, as they continue to lead their everyday lives, the Henneberries are in agreement that they don’t need a Valentine’s Day to remind them to love each other, because without a second thought, Tom and Patti live every day like it’s Valentine’s Day.
