Issue link: https://tmcpulse.uberflip.com/i/1152989
t m c » p u l s e | a u g u s t 2 0 1 9 21 I n the crowded clubhouse of her New Orleans apartment complex, Judie Gabler noticed a dashing young man stag- ger through the door with two friends. It was Friday, Oct. 15, 1971—close to midnight—and Gabler's apartment building was throwing a Las Vegas-themed party for tenants. The man had "the most beautiful eyes" and a smolder that made him look like an actor right out of Hollywood's Golden Age. Kenny Tidwell, who was almost 29 and recently divorced, was a former college football star who played for Louisiana Tech University and graduated with a degree in accounting. He lived just a few blocks from Judie and had been working as a scout for Getty Oil before being promoted to a landman. Judie and her friends taught Kenny and his friends how to shoot craps that night. Around 3 a.m., Kenny turned to Judie and said, "I have tickets to the Saints game Sunday. Want to go?" Judie paused. She already had season tickets, but she was undeniably smitten. "I was crazy about him right off the bat," Judie said. Two days later, Kenny and Judie watched the New Orleans Saints beat the Dallas Cowboys 24-14. It was the first of many dates. "He was adamant he was never getting married again, would never own another house, never mow another lawn, never have another kid," Judie said. "Never, never, never, never." She heard that speech from him often, each version bringing tears to her eyes. But on June 23, 1975, Kenny popped the question. He brought her to Antoine's in the French Quarter of New Orleans, her favorite restaurant, where they dined on crabmeat ravigote, filet mignon with marchand du vin sauce, a soufflé and drank a bottle of Châteauneuf-du-Pape. Even after nearly 44 years of marriage, Judie can recall that night in great detail. But Kenny doesn't remember anything. "Did I go?" he asked, earnestly, after listening to Judie reminisce about their courtship. "You must have. You gave me the ring," she quipped. It was a magical proposal, by all accounts, but those memories and so many others have been stolen from Kenny by Alzheimer's disease. Confusion, frustration Kenny was diagnosed with Alzheimer's in January 2013 at the age of 70. The previous fall, just a few months before his diagnosis, the Tidwells and their daughter, Amy, took a family trip to Ireland. Judie graduated from Saint Mary's College— the University of Notre Dame's sister school— and wanted to watch the Fighting Irish play long-time rival, the Navy Midshipmen, in Dublin's Emerald Isle Classic. It was meant to be a trip filled with school spirit and adventure, but the mood was interrupted by Kenny's unusual behavior. "When we first got to Ireland, the first night in the hotel, he had no clue," Judie said. "He was fumbling around and very discombobulated." Kenny wandered into the hallway of their hotel in the middle of the night several times, trying to get to the bathroom. He had trouble with money; he didn't understand when to pay and when not to pay and struggled with basic math to calculate a tip. On the return home, Kenny tried to get on every flight that was boarding at the airport. Judie and Amy had to pull him back each time to make sure they didn't lose him. The two women returned to Houston in tears. "The night we got home from Ireland, he said to my mom, 'I think something's wrong with me,'" Amy recalled. "In some ways, it was a relief because he had been fighting so hard for there to not be something wrong." ➟ Left: Judie and Kenny Tidwell on their wedding day in 1975. Above: The Tidwells in 2019.