They tied the knot on June 14, 1963, at the Sands Hotel in Las Vegas, honeymooned in Laguna Beach, Calif., and settled for a time in Chappaqua, N.Y. White admitted that she was nervous about becoming a stepmother to Ludden’s then-14-year-old son DavidFor their daughters Martha13 and Sarah, 10, but the family of five—plus poodles Willie and Emma—lived fairly harmoniously, the usual teenage growing pains aside.
Asked later in life if she ever regretted not having children of her own, White said she was “blessed” to be that trio’s stepmom—and she had no regrets. She said, “I am so obsessive about things, I know that if I ever got pregnant, of course, this would have been all my focus.” Katie CouricCBS News 2012 CBS News in 2012. I’m not sure, and I think I might be compulsive, that I would manage both.
Ludden would leave love notes around the house for White to find, one of which she credited with helping her finally see, no pun intended, that it was time to get her eyes checked. Her 2011 book If You ask me (and you won’t), she shared that one night he left a card under her pillow that read on the front, “If you can’t see I love you…” and on the inside said, “SQUINT!”
The woman had a lot of fun and also scheduled an appointment to see the eye doctor on the next day. Every single note was saved.