A San Antonio couple who dedicated over two decades of their lives to VIA Metropolitan Transit together are now stamping their bus tickets with the word “Retirement.”
Craig and Diana Opella both said they never imagined how VIA would change their lives in so many ways when they walked through the door.
“I broke my #1 rule, which was, ‘Don’t date where you work!’ But as you can see, anything is possible,” Diana laughed.
Craig and Diana actually met years before they started dating.
“I was a concierge at the Hilton, and he worked on the riverboat,” Diana said. “So, we worked there but didn’t see each other for a couple of years and then met here.”
Craig said he remembered Diana’s shiny smile and shiny shoes.
“We were both operators at first before he went to supervisor,” Diana said.
“The way I remember her was her shoes,” Craig added. “She always wore these black, shiny, leather shoes and I thought, ‘That is the girl from the Hilton.’”
Before long, their bus routes would end up at the same time points multiple times during their shifts.
“She was always driving slow! I would think, ‘Come on,’” Craig joked.
“He would get behind my bus and pressure me like, ‘Hurry up!’ I started avoiding him because he would do that, but then we both just ended up getting together.”
They said it paid off to break their No. 1 rule of not dating in the workplace, but they made a strict decision to keep their love life and work life separate.
“For a decade and a half, 90% of the people we worked with didn’t know we were married,” Craig said. “We kept things really simple and low-key, like our engagement. It was under the bridge at Fine Silver in the parking lot.”
“We were in our uniforms, and it was, you know, all about work,” Diana laughed. “When we got married at the courthouse on the steps, nobody really knew until I had to change my name. They said, ‘Oh my gosh! You married Craig Opella!?’ We just kept work [at] work and home [at] home.”
The couple said they had a lot of fun experiences over the years.
“We have had a lot of fun,” Diana said. “Just fun doing the job and different events and meeting new people. There was something different every day.”
“It took a lot of discipline,” Craig said. “Both at home and mainly at work. Because it is safety-conscious with what we do. We had a job to do. We had to balance home and work. It is all about timing and our lives have been working 30 seconds at a time for two and a half decades.”
Now, after over a million miles of driving, hitting their 25th VIA anniversary together and after over two decades of working for the company they love, their days are about to look very different as they are now closing this chapter of their careers and opening a new chapter of retirement.
“By the time I leave, it would be 9,979 days,” said Craig, who has worked 27 years and 11 months.
The couple said they plan to enjoy life once they clock out for the last time.
“It hasn’t hit me yet, but it is time,” Diana said. “I just feel it. Time to spend time with the family and the grandkids. Time to stay home and not be on a schedule and just enjoy life traveling. We are looking forward to this chapter.”
And despite closing their VIA chapter, they plan to stay connected with the place they fell in love with.
“I am going to miss my co-workers and passengers and the day-to-day about VIA,” Diana said. “It is never the same day, bus stop to bus stop.”
“I still see kids I drove when I was an operator and now, they have grown up and had families,” Craig said. “They say, ‘Remember you got me to school in the rain when I didn’t have any money?’ And I would say, ‘Yes. That is what we do.’”
As far as their advice about workplace relationships, the couple said to go at your own speed but be responsible.
“There are a lot of women and great guys here at VIA,” Diana laughed. “You are going to spend a lot of time here, so don’t be surprised if you might meet the one.”
