When Monique Craft worked at the United Mine Workers in Washington, D.C., back in the early 1980s, she docked the pay of one worker for using more leave than he had. His last check, right before Christmas, was less than $10.
"I docked his pay right before Christmas," Monique Craft said. "He was in the hole on vacation, so I ended up docking his pay."
Don Craft transferred to UMW's Washington office the following year, and the two met face to face. Don Craft remembers seeing her in the hallway of the UMW office when he arrived.
"I moved up here because it's the corporate office," Don Craft said. "I asked, 'Who's that girl going up the hallway?'"
He went up and thanked her sarcastically, and the two became friends.
"We started out as friends, which was good," said Monique Craft. "The first night we called it a date, I didn't have any money so he paid, so we called it a date."
Don Craft helped her move to another house over that time and accidentally dropped her speaker, breaking it. That's been a running joke for her. He couldn't pay for it, so he had to marry her. The couple married in 1986.
IT'S THE SECOND marriage for both of the Crafts, but it didn't make the courtship any less romantic. Although she didn't wear his class ring on a piece of string around her neck, like high-school sweethearts, their friendship turned to an exclusive dating situation.
"It's not that much different when you're older," Monique Craft said.
After going through one marriage, and moving to an area where there were lots of available dates, Don wasn't looking to get married right away.
"I was dead set on not getting married, but the more I got to know Monique ... ," he said.
Lynn Smith, a friend of the Crafts, is familiar with the story.
"I think they are the perfect complementary couple," Smith said. "It's hard to orchestrate a good relationship. It's just something that happens. It falls together."
Almost 20 years later, the Crafts' house is an active place, with their teenage daughter, Rebecca, a junior at West Springfield High School, and 9-year-old Michelle,, who goes to Keene Mill Elementary. Monique was a graduate of West Springfield as well. She likes the fact that her daughter attends the same school she did.
"That's why I bought a house here," Monique Craft said.
Monique Craft is now a real estate agent and Don Craft owns the Tune and Lube auto shop in Springfield.