Intentional Love

Written By: Marlene Osteen | Issue: September - 2022

In the winter of 1990, Bee Gleeson was living in Atlanta,single and looking for a great man.Pat Gleeson, then 40, wasn’t as concerned with meetingnew people. His previous marriage had ended in divorce twoyears earlier. A father of two – his daughter Maggie was 6 andhis son Sean was 3 – Gleeson said that following the breakup,“taking care of my children was my priority.” By the time amutual friend suggested they meet, Pat had already souredon blind dates. “I had been on 5, and they were all disasters.”Nevertheless, he agreed.Indeed, the chances of a relationship must have seemed prettyslim, because as Bee tells it, “Pat was nothing on my list.” “Hewas divorced, had two children, smoked, was Catholic and, inmy father’s words, a Yankee.”Their first date was dinner at a Buckhead restaurant withanother couple. Though the evening began awkwardly, thingsquickly turned around. Won over by Pat’s humor, Bee spentthe evening laughing, while he was drawn to the kindness shedisplayed to everyone.By dessert Bee had decided they were going to get married.Pat, equally enamored, was concerned, “I have so muchbaggage this woman is going to drop me like a hot rock.”That night they stayed out talking late. They had lunch the nextday and have been together since.They fell in love with each other’s families and as Pat said,“My kids even at that age fell in love with Bee – it was almostas if they were our own kids. We were all just part of eachother’s lives.”It didn’t take long for Bee to realize that “God gives you whatyou need, not necessarily what you want.”Pat, it seemed, was what she needed.Though their romantic relationship developed quickly, Pat,burned by his prior marriage, was hesitant. As he said, “We hada commitment, but we had to work through some stuff first.” It would be nearly four years before they wed. Determinednever to drop the “M” word, Bee would drop subtle hints – likecasually wearing a 3-inch diamond ring pin on her shoulder.In July 1993, Pat proposed in Laguna Beach, California, whilethey were playing cribbage on the beach. On December 4, thatyear they took their vows in Atlanta’s Swilley Church.At the time of their wedding, Bee was working for Ritz CarltonHotel, and Pat was in the advertising business. In their first 10years, they lived in nine different homes – moving from Atlantato California to Bryson City, North Carolina. It was goodpractice for the real estate career that was to come.In 2013, the couple left their long-time corporate careersto spearhead the leadership team at the Nantahala OutdoorCenter. But two years after giving up their friends and livesin Atlanta, they realized Bryson City was not going to meettheir financial expectations.An avid fly fisherman, Pat had discovered Highlands decadesbefore. Now it was time to move, “to recreate ourselves,” asPat told me. In short order they bought a home on Mirror Lake,obtained real estate licenses, and became active agents. Theyboth say that it is the strength of their relationship that makesthe business alliance work. (Today they are associated withSotheby’s International Realty of Highlands).That they have a loving, joyful, and playful union can be seenin the small acts. Like Bee wearing her wedding dress on thefourth day of each month to commemorate their wedding day– a tradition maintained for their first 15 years married, untilthe day came it no longer fit. They describe their partnership asbeing very “intentional,” as deliberately aware and considerateof each other. That means putting each other first every dayand, as Bee says, “Being intentional to live what love really is:not selfish, exercising patience, not easily angered nor keepingrecords of wrongs.”Surely, the strength of their bond is testimony to the claim. Asto the future, they look forward to grandchildren – still to come– and deepening ties with the community and church of whichthey have become so fond.

by Marlene Osteen