A bit of gossip...

....yep, the best kind of gossip

Chuck Offenburger, Mary Riche, Richard Gilbert, and yours truly.

These folks were all associated with the Consortium women's breakfast club about four decades ago. Only we were all with different partners back then.

I am delighted to report that Chuck Offenburger, who lost his wife Carla last year, is now "In a relationship with Mary Riche," according to Facebook.

Chuck Offenburger is a former Des Moines Register Iowa columnist known as the Iowa Boy, and Mary Riche is a well-known businesswoman turned therapist, now retired.

The reaction shocked them. Over 422 friends 'liked' the news, and 139 commented.

My pithy remark: Yikes. It's Facebook official now!

Chuck gave me a hint this was brewing on April 19 when we were together for a book signing at Beaverdale Books to promote Roxanne Conlin's biography.

So, I wasn't shocked when the couple shared the news with their Facebook followers on May 13. And, like so many of their friends, we weren't surprised 'in a relationship' would become a thing.

Mary, Chuck, and Carla were close friends until the end, and even before that, Mary and Chuck have been friends since college. Also, because Mary and Chuck are both involved with Plymouth Church, they remained in regular contact.

But something shifted for them both in March, they said, and it had something to do with Chuck stopping by to give Mary a Dutch Letter from Pella.

Anyway, we couldn't be more delighted for the pair, and it's fascinating to reflect on the fact that 40 years ago, during the Consortium Christmas party, we could not have imagined ending up with our current partners.

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Charity Nebbe

Charity Nebbe will be our Monday Zoom Lunch guest on Monday, May 23. If you are a paid subscriber to this column you will receive a Zoom invitation to join the conversation. I guarantee we will have a lively discussion about her role as host of Iowa Public Radio’s “Talk of Iowa” and “Iowa Ingredient” on Iowa PBS. She’s a terrific interviewer and books wonderful guests.

Proceeds from the paid subscriptions help fund scholarships for the Okoboji Writers’ Retreat.

In case you missed it, here’s the column from our last, but first, Monday Zoom Lunch guest, Rekha Basu:

It's a wrap...