THE MIND CAN CALCULATE. THE SPIRIT CAN YEARN. BUT THE HEART KNOWS WHAT IT KNOWS… AND IT WANTS WHAT IT WANTS. ROMANTIC LOVE CAN CERTAINLY BE TRICKY. BUT SOMETIMES IT’S EASY, JUST LIKE IN FAIRY TALES. LOVE AT FIRST SIGHT. KINDRED SPIRITS. COMPLEMENTARY SOULS. SOMETIMES THE HEART KNOWS ITS PERFECT MATCH IS OUT THERE, AND DOES NOT REST UNTIL IT IS FOUND. HERE IN THE PIED- MONT TRIAD, LOVE FLOURISHES ALL AROUND US: IN BUSINESS, IN POLITICS, IN MEDIA AND IN THE ARTS. IT TAKES ON MANY FORMS, MANIFESTS ITSELF IN DIFFERENT WAYS. AND FOR EVERY COUPLE IN LOVE, THERE IS A LOVE STORY, EACH ONE AS UNIQUE AS THE HEARTS THAT ARE BOUND BY IT
Power couple:
Sen. Don and Greensboro Mayor Pro Tem Nancy Vaughan
It was a romance born in the close quarters of Greensboro City Council chambers, nurtured on the back of a Harley-Davidson and which flowered, somewhat ironically, on a tour of a wastewater treatment plant.
Don Vaughan, who represents District 27 in the NC Senate, and his wife Nancy, who currently serves as mayor pro tem of Greensboro, met in 1996 when Don served on council and Nancy was a neighborhood advocate fighting against a Jefferson-Pilot project slated for New Garden Road.
The former Nancy Mincello had argued many times before council — and her future husband — before being elected to the body herself for the first time in 1997. Don found himself in the somewhat awkward position of falling in love with a political adversary.
“I fell head over heels,” the senator says from an overstuffed leather chair in the couple’s home. “You never know when love is gone come around.”
Things happened quickly for the two: a marriage after a three-month courtship, followed shortly by the birth of their daughter, Katherine, and Nancy’s caesura from political life, which resumed with her election to council last fall.
When the two served on council together, Nancy says, they shared some of the same political vision but never thought of themselves as a voting bloc.
For his part, Don says, he approached his post from more of a legal perspective while Nancy was more of a neighborhood advocate.
“I guess I’ve learned something in the last 12 years,” he says. “I’ve represented at least 12 neighborhoods since then. She’s certainly had an effect on me.
“She hasn’t changed a bit,” he adds. “We may not always agree with the way the other has voted,” Nancy says. “I get worried about unfunded mandates — when the state doesn’t give us as much money as they were doing before. I understand the state is in worse shape than the city….”
“We certainly don’t agree on everything,” Don says.
They do agree that having a sitting council member and a state representative sharing a household has its advantages.
“We have that constant line of communication,” Nancy says. “We had a fellow council member [come to us] with a state issue just yesterday. He’s easy to find, let’s put it that way.”
“I understand the issues firsthand,” Don says, “and I can tackle them in Raleigh.”
“Sometimes I call and say, ‘I’m calling my senator,’” Nancy says.
Probably their biggest challenge is scheduling, the say.
Nancy has city council meetings on Tuesday nights and attends various civic functions throughout the week. Don spends much of his time in Raleigh, and he still maintains his Greensboro law practice [Disclosure: Don Vaughan is my lawyer]. Add to that the responsibilities associated with raising a young daughter and a yellow Labrador show dog named Remington, their joint fondness for ACC basketball and a busy social calendar. But the two selfdescribed “policy wonks” have common ground — the desire to serve and a love of Greensboro. And that, they say, is enough to keep the home fires burning.
“There is a mutual respect,” Nancy says. “We’ve been there — we served on council together. I respect what he does.
“She know where I come from,” Don adds.
And, he says, he still has the Harley out in the family garage.
“I think we’ve ridden it maybe five times in 11 years,” he says.
“And we’re not riding it anymore,” she says. “I just stopped the insurance on it.”
“You wanna buy a Harley?” Don asks .
