A Speeding Ticket, a Cappella Harmony, and the Cold War: How One Couple Met

Some love stories begin with a meet-cute. This one begins with a speeding ticket.

In My Life With Ewa: The Early Years, Tim Pratt tells the delightful true story of how he and his wife, Ewa, found their way to each other in the late 1970s. It's a story told in the first person from the husband's point of view, and as readers quickly discover, it's anything but ordinary. In the span of an afternoon's reading, you'll learn how a speeding ticket, a shared love of four-part a cappella harmony, and the unlikely backdrop of the Cold War combined to set the couple on the road to marriage.

That shared love of harmony is a charming detail worth pausing on. Four-part a cappella singing, music performed entirely by voices without instruments, has a long and beloved tradition in America, especially in barbershop quartets and choirs. In a classic barbershop quartet, four voices, usually called tenor, lead, baritone, and bass, blend together to create rich, ringing chords. Getting those harmonies just right takes practice, careful listening, and a lot of trust between singers. It's hard to imagine a more fitting metaphor for a relationship: two people learning to listen closely, adjust to each other, and create something beautiful together.

The story unfolds against a remarkable historical canvas. The late 1970s were a time of Cold War tension between East and West, and Pratt's account weaves the couple's personal journey through that larger world. Along the way come some truly unexpected moments, including chance encounters with President Jimmy Carter and Pope John Paul II. For context, John Paul II was elected pope in 1978, becoming the first non-Italian pope in more than four centuries, and he quickly became one of the most famous figures on the world stage. There's also a longshoremen's strike in Rouen, the historic port city in France's Normandy region, an adventure that proves travel rarely goes according to plan.

Those detours are part of what makes the memoir such fun. It's part adventure, part travelogue, part nostalgia, and part love story. Pratt has a natural storyteller's gift for pacing, and his warm, engaging voice keeps readers wondering what will happen next. He also pays loving attention to the popular culture and everyday details of the era, from the music to the politics, which gives the book a vivid sense of time and place.

Baby boomers in particular will find themselves smiling at the references to the culture, history, and politics of their youth, and revisiting memories of their own pasts. But readers of any age will enjoy the book's central charm: the reminder that the most important relationships in our lives often begin by chance, and grow through a series of moments no one could have planned.

Tim Pratt was born and raised in Des Moines, Iowa, and this memoir marks his debut as an author. His humor, warmth, and sense of adventure shine on every page, making it easy to see why so many readers have fallen for this charming book.

My Life With Ewa: The Early Years is perfect for readers who love true love stories, travel memoirs, and nostalgic trips back to the 1970s, and for anyone who believes that the best stories are the ones life writes for us. It also makes a lovely gift for an anniversary or for the couple who still loves telling the story of how they met.

My Life With Ewa: The Early Years by Tim Pratt is available now in paperback and hardcover.