Couples Working Together – Beatrice and Derrol Fulghum

LOVE, MADE IN BAVARIA

Beatrice and Derrol have been married since 2007. Derrol has been enlisted since 2003 and is a Staff Sergeant in the 107th Mobile Public Affairs Detachment, Florida National Guard. The two met at the American Forces Network in Heidelberg, Germany where Derrol worked as a broadcaster for the public affairs department. His active tour included time in Wiesbaden and Baghdad before meeting Beatrice. Beatrice interned at the network station while studying journalism and the two quickly became inseparable. They live in Panama City Beach and work together at the Hofbrauhaus Beer Garden, which serves authentic German Food and imported Bavarian Beer. 

PCL: How did you propose?

Derrol: Beatrice was born the day after Christmas. I proposed to Beatrice in the most unromantic way possible. We celebrated Christmas Eve with her relatives and friends… on the way home that night I confessed I could not live without her and asked her if she wanted to get married. She did not take me serious and sent me to bed. The next morning, on her birthday, she asked if I had been serious the night before. Of course I had. We got married a month later.

PCL: How were the first few months as a young couple?

Derrol: I had to leave for the US and joined the National Guard while Beatrice graduated from university with a BA in English, French and a minor in Journalism. We were reunited in March 2007 and had a few more tough months to cope with. I had ankle surgery and she had to adjust to living in Florida.

Beatrice: Yes, it was tough in the beginning. The American lifestyle is much different than the German lifestyle and things like recycling is handled here much different than it is handled in Germany. Everyone seemed so wasteful here. I had to adjust to that. The opening of the Hofbrauhaus on February 14th 2008 changed our way of life. When I saw the ads in the newspaper and that they we relooking for em- ployees, I did not quite trust the way their jobs were advertised – pictured was a woman in a Halloween costume rather than an authentic Dirndl. Derrol called them up and asked if they needed an accordion player and they were very interested. They immediately asked the both of us to start working here and Derrol with his German skills was hired on as a greeter.

PCL: How do you work together?

Beatrice: I am the bookkeeper, office manager and shift manager and do all the marketing for the Hofbrauhaus and together we entertain guests on the weekends – I often play the role of the grumpy German accordionist and he is the one making the jokes.

Derrol: I play the bass and accompany Beatrice on the accordion. The bass of course is not traditionally used to play Bavarian songs but I am making it sound like a Tuba to get the authentic sounds.

PCL: Did you have some other tough times to overcome?

Beatrice: He was deployed for 22 months to Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. The good thing was, Guantanamo is not the most dangerous place so I was not worried or scared but the separation was hard. I kept working here at Hofbrauhaus and I tried to visit Germany a lot. All of a sudden it was just me living on my own. But I managed. In that time I joined the Panama City POPS Orchestra where I play the second violin.

Derrol: She has insane talent, I can’t even begin to wrap my head around all those buttons on the accordion and she is a great violinist. While I was deployed I had a few concerns. She was alone. I was concerned about her safety and making sure that she was taken care of, that things around the house that needed to get done would not overwhelm her. That’s when we really came to appreciate this workplace. Everyone here at the Hofbrauhaus, from employers to guests of the “Stein Club Stammtisch”, pitched in to help Beatrice whenever help was needed.

Beatrice: When he came back from Guantanamo, being together 24/7 was weird at fi rst. It’s not that you come home and ask what your partner’s day was like… we already know all that since we have been around each other all day.

Derrol: Of course, being around each other all the time there are little spats but on the plus side, if it gets busy and stressful out here in the restaurant, then the close proximity is great. I can vent and talk to Beatrice, my partner who I trust.

Beatrice: But each of us is getting their alone time as well. We each have our own activities. While Derrol goes out and meets old friends, I like to go for a run. I think it is important to give each other some alone time. Playing at the POPS Orchestra is something I really enjoy.

Derrol: Being in the National Guard, I am away for one weekend every month. We get away from each other then and everyone decompresses. But at the end of that weeken we are really looking forward to seeing each other again. Sometimes I would get on the road to St. Augustine and I am not quite out of the county and I start missing her already. In general I enjoy working together. I kind of feel bad for people who do not get to see their spouses in the middle of the day.

Beatrice: We can share a lot of the small hardships. And the nice thing is, most of the times we get along so well that all we have to do is look at each other to know what is going on. We do start talking German with each other sometimes to share little secrets.

Derrol: Yes, she yells at me in German, too. Folks around here know I am in trouble when she starts talking German. But I think we often present the perfect image, which is not always true. People tell us what a cute couple we are but we do have our problems but in the end I feel so comfortable when I come home and that to me is what matters.

PCL: Do you have anything that you can share with our readers, something to help them through bad times?

Derrol: When I was in Baghdad I developed a pretty bad case of Posttraumatic stress disorder. It was before I met Beatrice and that’s the only way she has known me and over the years I had more and more problems. It was getting so bad that I did not like being around people and crowds. Beatrice would ask me to go to the supermarket with her and I just could not do it. She thought I was being mean but I just could not breathe, I had anxieties. It got so bad that I had trouble eating solid foods, I had the feeling I was choking. That went on for about a year. Beatrice would even cook special meals to accommodate me, she pureed the food. And I had trouble talk- ing about it. I just came back from a three week exposure therapy that was sponsored by the DOD and is put on by the University of Central Florida. It was a very good experience. Beatrice just told me on stage today that I look and act very different. You caught us at a great time.

Beatrice: I did not know there was a problem, I did not connect the food issues to anything that might have happened in his past. We both pretended that everything was ok. But we stuck it out, we handled it.

PCL: What are your strengths and weaknesses as a couple?

Derrol: We project a positive image together, I am a people person and people love talking to us.

Beatrice: People always relate to us very well. We bring Germany to American, I like that.

PCL: Do you have any traditions for Valentine’s Day.

Beatrice: Since it’s the Hofbrauhaus’ anniversary every Valentine’s Day we are usually here representing and performing. But he did send me fl owers and a coffee mug that I really wanted last year.

Derrol: The thing about Beatrice is that she really doesn’t dig flowers. She wants practical presents, something she can actually use. If I get her German chocolate and something practical like new running shoes, then she is ok. Last Valentine’s Day I sang “Unchained Melody” for her and she was so embarrassed.

Beatrice: I hate being in the limelight. But he is a great singer and in the end I think it was very sweet of him to sing the song on stage for me.

Interview by Val Schoger