The Photograph – A Love Story

By Mia Freneaux

Pictured Above:  The Dupuy Family Reunion, 2010

Every great love story has an obstacle the lovers must overcome. The greater the obstacle, the more satisfying the happy ending. But do great love stories happen in real life? Do Disney-esque “happily ever afters” truly exist?
Over 30 years ago, two young lovers here in Central named Dana and Teresa married in a beautiful ceremony with all their family and friends surrounding them. But, as so often happens in life, “happily ever after” seemed not to be for them. Careers went different ways, and they grew apart and divorced. They figured that was that, and moved on. But something still existed between them that never went away.
Enter the Disney magic moment. 30 years later, the Dupuy family of Central was celebrating a family reunion. This was a red letter day because the 8 brothers and sisters had gathered from all corners of the globe and were together for the first time in decades. Leroy Dupuy submitted the photograph of the family to “Central Speaks”, where it was printed in November of 2010. A Baton Rouge resident saw the photo and cut it out to save for her friend Teresa, who lived in Arkansas. She didn’t know when she would see Teresa next, but she knew Teresa would be interested to see a photograph of her ex husband, Dana Dupuy.
Teresa, after her divorce, had moved to Florida and gotten remarried, eventually moving to Arkansas. Her husband passed away from lung cancer in 2010, and Teresa then went on an 8 month long trip in her RV, with only her dog for company. She went all the way up to Maine, carrying with her the entire time a wedding ring as a good luck token, a wedding ring from 30 years before.
Dana had remarried and his job had relocated him to Texas. He traveled all over the world with his job, but always in the back of his mind was the question of what had happened to Teresa. “I had lost touch, I didn’t know where she was, how she was doing, or even if she was still alive,” he says. Just a few short months before the Dupuy family reunion, he had lost his wife to lung cancer. After the reunion, he returned to Nigeria with his job.
Teresa decided to pass through Baton Rouge on her way home from her 8 month journey, and stopped to visit her friend, who showed her the photo. She couldn’t believe her eyes when she saw her first husband, Dana. She looked up his sister Jeannie, and asked if Jeannie would tell Dana she wanted to contact him. Jeannie emailed Dana, telling him he was about to receive a “blast from his past.” Dana’s reaction? “I told her – send me her number!” he remembers with a smile.
A 7 hour time difference and 30 years lay between them. It was difficult for Dana to call. “I was so nervous, I’d dial the number, then hang up before it would ring,” he shares. Then, waiting at a dock in Nigeria for a ship to come in with company goods, he looked up and saw the ship was named “Teresa”. Taking it as a good sign, he dialed her number.
Teresa had decided that Dana wasn’t going to call her, until she was driving down the interstate and passed a tanker with “Dana” painted on every side. This gave her hope, and sure enough, when her phone rang, “It was like we couldn’t get enough of each other,” Dana shares, “We’d think the same thing, then start to say it at the same time.” Daily phone calls, texts, and skyping occurred until Dana returned home from Nigeria. They set up a rendezvous, and met for the first time in 30 years. “It was like we’d never been apart!” Teresa says happily. One week later, Dana proposed.
Last Saturday, with all their family and friends surrounding them, Teresa and Dana celebrated their marriage with a reception and going away party. Going away party? Dana had decided to semi-retire and help Teresa run the hotel she owns in Arkansas. They both agreed the only job he would take would be one where she could go too. Their most desired destination? Australia. No one should be surprised to learn that shortly after making that decision, Dana’s work called with an offer for the two of them to go for three years to – Australia. “We’re going to tour nearby places like Indonesia, and scuba dive the Great Barrier Reef!” they share with excitement.
Do great love stories happen in real life? Do Disney-esque “happily ever afters” truly exist? Just ask Dana and Teresa, as they literally fly off into the sunset in June, and they’ll answer with a resounding “Yes!” “God had a bigger plan than either of us knew,” a glowing Teresa says.
Many times we see and read things in “Central Speaks” that seem insignificant. Stories like this emphasize the fact that every story is important to someone in our town: a friend, a neighbor, a family member; and can sometimes have a greater and more far reaching effect than anyone could ever anticipate. Thanks to Dana and Teresa for sharing their story book ending with us.