“TOGETHER”
(Note: A June 2008 submission to the Anchorage Daily News for their “Together” section. Also included are three photos – one when we were engaged in the fall of 1962, one when we were married on July 1, 1963, and one as we are today.)
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ENGAGED 1962 |
MARRIED 1963 |
TODAY |
Together. Sometimes, togetherness forms the very core of a couple’s existence. That is the case with Ted and Francoise Gianoutsos. Both were born in the middle of the Second World War in 1942 on opposite sides of the Atlantic Ocean. Francoise was born on a cold January 21st, in Normandy France. Ted was born on a hot August 5th, in Massachusetts.
They started their life together 20 years later in 1962 on a Normandy beach just a few miles from where American troops had stormed ashore to liberate France from Nazi tyranny. At 10 o’clock on the morning of the sixth of July, Francoise was sitting on the beach with a group of her university friends. Ted was sitting nearby with 2 fellow Airmen on a Fourth of July 3-day weekend pass from the airbase where they were stationed with the U.S. Air Force.
Ted walked over and sat down next to Francoise. Before saying a word they gazed into each other’s eyes and both knew instantly that they would spend the rest of their lives together. They knew that they were soul mates. They were married a year later on July 1st 1963, in Deauville France.
Togetherness seemed natural to them. Both their fathers were born in the 1890s. Their mothers were born in 1912 and 1913. Their parents both married in the 1930s. Both couples were married for more than 50 years.
Ted and Francoise grew up watching their parents work every day, together. Ted’s parents ran a small mom and pop grocery store/restaurant that was open 7 days a week. Francoise’s dad was a country veterinarian whose wife helped in a practice that was also a 7-day a week proposition.
Ted and Francoise put each other through school in the 1960s earning 6 college degrees. Together, in the early 1980s they founded the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation. It is the only time in American history that a couple has pushed an entire generic wildlife act through a divided Congress that passed unanimously with 60 cosponsors including 22 chairmen and the leaders of both parties. At the same time, both Ted and Francoise lost their federal civil service jobs in Washington D.C. because they stood up against corruption.
They drove from Virginia to Alaska 9 years ago, living in their car. They ran as a team for the U. S. Senate 4 years ago for one reason, to open ANWR in the best and most beneficial way for America, Alaska, and wildlife with the creation of a National Endowment for Wildlife as the lasting legacy of responsible ANWR oil and gas development. They both ran for Governor and Lt. Governor of Alaska 2 years ago for the same reason.
Today, they are again running as a team for U.S. Senate, to achieve the best and most beneficial ANWR legislation. They even have a website that is simply called tedandfran.com. Every day, they work to do something good for their country, their state, and for wildlife. As they have for 45 years, they do it in the only way they know how. Together!
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