I first laid eyes on June Carter when I was 18, on a Dyess High School senior class trip to the Grand Ole Opry.  I’d liked what I heard of her on the radio, and I really liked what I saw of her from the balcony at the Ryman Auditorium.  She was great.  She was gorgeous.  She was a star.  I was smitten, seriously so.  The next time I saw her was 6 years later, again at the Opry, but this time backstage because by then I was a performer too.  I walked over to her and came right out with it: “You and I are going to get married someday.”  June is formidable; she’s my solid rock.  She’s my spark plug.  When there are people to talk to and my shyness is welling up, she holds my hand.  June always sees that I’ve got the right thing to eat, if I’ll agree to eat it.  She likes the same kind of movies I do, and the same kind of TV shows.  She’s got charm, she’s got brains, she’s got style, she’s got class.  She’s silver, she’s gold, she’s got jewelry, she’s got furniture, she’s got china….she’s got a black belt in shopping.  She’s a vital performer, and it’s vital for me to have her on my concerts.  I just don’t want to travel if she can’t come with me.  She almost always does.  She’s my life’s companion, and she’s a sweet companion.  She and I have become so very close, so intimate.  Whenever I face a professional decision, I always put it to her because I know she’ll be both objective and honest.  She’s never judgmental.  She’s become everything that wife should be, in my mind.  We sleep together, we pray together, we travel together, we work together, and we’ve both found our particular place where we totally belong in every avenue of endeavor.  —Johnny Cash, From “Cash: The Autobiography”