our story

The seeds for Patchouli Joe's Books & Indulgences were planted at a small Air Force base in (then) West Germany in 1977, and it begins and ends like all fairy tale classics:

"Once upon a time..." and "...happily ever after."

Once upon a time, sixteen year old Diane Boeglin persuaded her parents to allow her to leave her Dallas home and spend a year abroad. She travelled 5,000 miles to live with her brother and sister-in-law, both teachers at Hahn Air Base.

When she arrived, she met Joe Mayes, the son of an Air Force civilian mother and retired Air Force Master Sergeant-turned-teacher father. Surrounded by life-long military brats, these two children of civilians in a strange land forged a friendship that continued to grow, even surviving their brief romance.

Following their junior year in high school, they lost contact.

Diane moved to Denton for college, went on to teaching and raising her family, dreaming of one day retiring to spend her time running a "smelly-good" store. Joe followed in his father's footsteps, retiring from the US Air Force as a Master Sergeant, never letting go of his dream of opening an independent bookstore and finally planting roots.

Then, nearly forty years later, on New Year's Eve of 2016, Diane saw Joe's face on social media.

Her: "I don't know if you remember me..."

Him: "Of COURSE I remember you!"

Fourteen months later, they were married.

A year after that, Patchouli Joe's Books & Indulgences was born.

Two years later, they brought Patchouli Joe's home to Denton.

Behind every story is the story, the foundation upon which the story you see is built. Diane and Joe hope that their story, while perhaps straining credulity, inspires others to remember two things:

  1. Dreams only die if you let them, and
  2. It's never too late to find your happily ever after.

Your "once upon a time" has already been written. It's up to you to discover your "happily ever after." Your dreams will provide the roadmap.

Diane and Joe proved it's possible.

And they continue to live happily ever after.