of what was to come, surely they would have abandoned this place forever. stephen and jody met in the late seventies in georgia. he was in the army, a bookworm who loved the civil war. she taught history. there is was a meeting first of minds. then hearts. >> how would you sort of describe those early years? with a loving? where they exciting? >> yes. they were. you know, we were in love. we were just ecstatic. >> from there, marriage. a house. a son, jonathan in 1983. >> and how would you describe jody as a mom? >> she was really devoted. >> life is good. and even as the years went by, even with the demands of work and family, stephen says he and jody still made time for each other. like that last summer sunday in september of 1992. stephen says it was supposed to be a date night. >> it wasn't -- no idea that would be the most