Wooden: A Lifetime of Observations and Reflections On and Off the Court

Nellie and I Agreed to Be Agreeable

Nellie Riley caught my eye the first time I ever saw her back at Martinsville High School in Indiana. It was on a warm star-filled night at the carnival during the summer of my freshman year. I think we probably fell in love right away and didn’t even know it.

Folks think Nellie and I had a perfect marriage, but it was because we worked at it. There are rough patches in any marriage. Very early we understood that there would be times when we disagreed but there would never be times when we had to be disagreeable. We kept to that rule for over half a century.

Nellie and I have a great love for one another, but we understood that even love takes some work.