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Tracy McCullen& Dorothy Papadakos
THE SCENE: Easter Sunrise Service on Wrightsville Beach.
Dorothy, the organist at the largest Gothic cathedral
in the world, New York’s St. John the Divine, is visiting
some friends around Wilmington. Her late father had
two main passions: inventing helicopters, including the
Gyrodyne QH-50 (newly-delivered to the Smithsonian),
and cultivating tropical horticulture. To honor his mem-ory,
Dorothy has just returned from four months travel-ing
around the equator researching her father’s flora, plus
some indigenous music along the way. She is very tan.
Tracy, owner of Landscapes Unique, is with friends for
Easter Sunday at the beach. He’s about to embark on a
three-week trek to Nepal for his 40th birthday, but first,
he just has to know: “Who is that gorgeous, dark, exotic
creature walking down the beach?”
SHE: “I was actually engaged when we met and I
remember, I saw him on the beach, and I took my chin
in my hand and literally turned my head away. He was so
handsome. He looked like Mr. National Geographic with
his hair, his camera — but I was burnt out on the man
thing. I was about to marry the wrong guy. It was kind of
like the gods were up there saying, ‘Not him…HIM!”
HE: “I’d only been with her a few days when I
went to Nepal, and I told my fellow travelers, ‘I’m going
to marry this girl.’ I called my travel agent — this was
back when they had travel agents — to see if he could
re-route me through New York on my way back and he
actually spoke first, apologizing for the inconvenience:
“I’m sorry, I meant to tell you: they need to re-route you
through New York. I hope that’s not a problem.”
SHE: “Our whole relationship has been full of these
little serendipities. When he came to visit, I sent my fash-ionable
friend, Aaron, out to do some home shopping.
He bought these fabulous sheets, French Country-style,
blue and white, and then he showed me the receipt.
There was the name Tracy, over and over. Aaron said
he’d thought it was the name of the sales clerk, but then
realized it was the name of the sheets! He said, ‘You’ll
never believe this. They’re called ‘Tracy’ sheets.’”
HE: “Ok, now, the proposal.”
SHE, HOLDING UP HER THUMB AND FOREFINGER
AND SHORTENING THEM TOGETHER: “Short, love. The
short version.”
HE: “Three months after we met, it was July Fourth
weekend. I love the number three. I knew I wanted to
ask her to marry me at some point,
so I decided this was the time.
I wanted to do something special.
I called the choirmaster at her work-
place to line up a live performance
of “Somewhere Over the Rainbow” — for Dorothy.
An artist friend painted a rainbow on a canvas, which
was 10 by 20. And then I put it in a duffel bag, and
went to the airport. But I thought, ‘I need something
else.’ I needed 100 helium balloons in rainbow colors.
It was tough, because it was Fourth of July weekend, but
I finally found a woman who would do it. She was all
excited. I sat with Dorothy during the service while she
played the organ — she really takes the roof off with her
jazz improvisational piano.”
SHE, WITH A LAUGH: “And all through the service, I
kept hearing these booms. It was the balloons, popping
in the heat, and there was about an eight-second echo
every time they popped. He blew my mind.”
Their over-the-top wedding ceremony featured
Renaissance costumes; bagpipes and Phillipe Petit —
famous World Trade Center tightrope walker and a
close friend of Dorothy’s, performing for the guests with
handfuls of gold dust, a long-stemmed red rose balanced
across his nose and, for the first time ever, whispered
words from the wire.
SHE: “The wedding was off the charts, but the mar-riage
just keeps getting better. When you find the right
person, it’s incredible.”
Since then, Dorothy has put the finishing touches on
“Bacchus,” a musical she’s worked on for 10 years that’s
headed to Broadway. Now, Tracy is headed back to
school, soon to launch a daring new venture of his own.
SHE: “Bacchus,” the musical, is our first child;
it’s gone from a toddler to a wild and crazy teenager,
ready to head to college. For the last ten years,
he’s been supporting my writing and now, I’m
supporting Tracy in his Academy of Imagination,
our second child.”
HE: “When you’re constantly striving to support each
other’s dreams, and work together as a team, there’s that
spark. We like to think we’re sophisticated people of the
world, but after 13 years of marriage, we still feel like
we’re on our honeymoon.”
www.wrightsvillebeachmagazine.com WBM