Bob Self/The Times-Union

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By SARA CONRAD
The Times-Union

The Linvilles saw “ The Lion in Winter” on their first date in 1975. Janet remembers it being a bad movie. But they both remember having a wonderful time on their second date at the Ochlocknee Bluegrass Festival. Janet was “taken by [Roger’s] sense of humor” and they were engaged soon after and married at Maclay Gardens in Tallahassee June 5, 1976.

Roger’s recollection: “My wife and I met courtesy of a cracked filling. I was working on my master’s at FSU in 1975 when I broke a filling in one of my teeth. I called my dentist and scheduled an appointment to have it repaired. I had been having my teeth cleaned by his dental hygienist for more than a year but had only recently begun to really notice her ... but I was shy and never had the courage to ask her out.

“On the day I had my filling replaced, I noticed that she was working, so I decided to at least talk to her on my way out. The dentist had given me some Novocaine and I had little feeling on one side of my face. When I walked by the hygienist’s room, she was working on a patient, but I stuck my head in the room and said 'hi.’ With what felt like a drooping jaw and little bits of silver on my tongue, I asked her if she’d like to go out to dinner and a movie one night. The numbness made me sound like I was talking under water with a thick tongue, so I figured she’d think I had an IQ of maybe 50 tops. But, to my surprise, she said 'sure.’ So I got her number and promised to call in a day or two to work out the details. We always enjoy telling our two grown daughters that they owe their very existence to a cracked filling.”

Janet’s recollection: “He was one of my first patients, and I was a brand new hygienist. He was a very friendly and nice guy, and it threw me when he stopped by my room and asked me out. It was so sweet. Most guys wouldn’t have the nerve to do that.”