Episode Details

Wendy Corr:

Folks, welcome to a very special edition of The Roundup. We are kicking off our second season in the home of Pete and Lynne Simpson here in Cody, Wyoming. What a gift and treasure these two are, and have been to the state of Wyoming, and so I don't want to take too much time to introduce them, because I'm going to let them do the introducing.

Pete and Lynn have been absolute rocks when it comes to the theater and the arts and culture of this state, and farther beyond as well. But in addition to that, Pete has such a long history - well, Lynn as well - long history here in Cody, and have made their mark here. So I want to say hello

Pete Simpson:

Hi, Wendy.

Lynne Simpson:

It's nice to see you.

Wendy Corr:

You two dear, dear people have just been part of my heart for so long,

Pete Simpson:

Well, you've been a wonderful part of our lives and our community's lives.

Wendy Corr:

Well. Thank you. Thank you. I want to just start out by saying, both of you grew up here in Cody - in fact, in fact, Pete, you grew up in this house.

Pete Simpson:

This house, I shall put this to everybody, is as old as I am. I came here at the age of six months, and have lived in it off and on ever since.

So what do I have to say here? I was born in 1930, so as a consequence, I've been around for some time, and this has been a place where I've come back, Lynne and I, because both of us were raised in this town.

That's what gave both of us a sense of commonality and a sense of knowing who we both were, because the town was a part of what nurtured us and encouraged us.

Lynne Simpson:

Really special. Well, I was raised across the street from Pete, but there's a lot of years difference between us. So when I was seven, he was 17, and I didn't know him very well, but we were in the same neighborhood.

And it was exactly 65 years ago this holiday season, that we met. And we courted 13 days and became engaged, and then were married right away. So everyone in Cody that knew us because we were the little kids growing up all those years just thought, Well, that won't last. That's 13 days, you know, what do they know?

But we knew everything about each other, because in a small town, you do carry so many things, people, and experiences, that we didn't have to even talk to know that we knew each other. You know, it saved our marriage many times.

Pete Simpson:

Lynne phrased it well one time - we knew a thousand unspoken things about each other.

Lynne Simpson:

It's really a glue that's lovely for us.

Pete Simpson:

And that's been a joy. We ended up going on a date to the Bronze Boot, the old Bronze Boot down on the river with the precarious bridge and all of those exciting things. And we never made the dinner. We sort of parked on the rim.

Lynne Simpson:

Come on, this is a Christmas story. (Both laugh) But we did talk.

Pete Simpson:

We did. We talked for three hours.

Lynne Simpson:

And of course, I think that's what's great about a good marriage, is if you never run out of things you want to tell each other or new things you want to share and have adventures together. It was just wonderful for us to find each other.

I'd come home from New Y