It was love at first sight when Vivian Liberto met her handsome airman at a roller rink. They dated for a few weeks, then she waited for him for 3 years while he was stationed overseas. He sent her the engagement ring through the mail, they got married, lived off boxed mac and cheese for months while he worked a dead-end appliance sales job. Then he became the Man in Black. Vivian Cash was by Johnny’s side through thick and thin for 12 years of marriage, watching from the wings as he wrote country music history with his song about her. She saved every single love letter, and dutifully preserved every memory of Johnny long before the fame. They say love is worth waiting for, but a very special love is worth “walking the line.”

Sources used for this episode:

Vivian Cash with Ann Sharpsteen, “I Walked The Line: My Life with Johnny” (200 ...