Margaret Bottoni

How did you meet Joe?

My husband (Joseph Bottoni) had passed away some time before and I was single again.  My friend Pat had a small floral shop here in Hilliard, FL and she and I had become very good friends through our church.  She was at a floral convention and Joe had a booth there. When Pat met him for some reason she thought he would be great for me. So she invited him up to visit our town and our church. He came up to Hilliard and at the time I was working at Five Points, a ladies shop, and he called me there.  At that time he seemed a little two overpowering for me. I’m more of a laid back person and he was so outgoing that it was a little scary. He called and asked if he could come to the shop and I said that I guessed that would be alright. My friend Pat’s husband had asked if I wanted him to be there at the shop when Joe arrived.  But I told him that I was a big girl and that I could handle it.

 Joe came into the shop like a small hurricane, asking who Meg was. I was a little embarrassed.  I came out from the back and there he was. I didn’t like him; I didn’t like him at all.  But he waited for me to get off of work and at that time he had a small trailer in which he was traveling. One of the girls working in the shop said that she wasn’t going to leave me alone with this guy, but I told her that it would be alright and that I could handle myself. We ended up sharing a Pepsi in his trailer and talking for awhile.  I realized that he wasn’t as fearsome as he first seemed.  He came back a week or so later and we started dating. Not too long after that we were married.  We have been married for 23 years now.

What are your plans for the future?

I plan on trying to stay as healthy as I can so I can enjoy my family, my children, and my grandchildren. And I hope to live long enough to see my five month old great-granddaughter Isabella grow up. 

How would you like to be remembered?

I would like to be remembered as a loving, devoted granny to my grandchildren who always there when they needed me.  I’ve always been there when the grandkids need me. One family has four handsome boys who always call me before they call their parents and that is a good legacy I think. They know that granny can get things done and that is why they sometimes call me before their parents.