Mary and Gary met at a Holiday Inn in Des Moines, Iowa while Mary and her family were visiting for a sorority rush. Mary locked herself out of the room and Gary was the bell hop who assisted her with her dilemma. The two spent the rest of the weekend visiting around the pool. Gary was already a student at Iowa State and shared information about the societies, campus life and living in the area. Mary knew her and Gary were destined to be good friends. That friendship grew into 48 years of marriage. The couple raised their three, now-grown, children on Adlerian principles with a Christian foundation. Four grandchildren and one great-grandchild all live in the greater Omaha area. The Hughes are a retired Air Force family.
During his 22 years in the Air Force, Gary took his family to several states, as well as the Philippines, Guam, and Korea. After retiring in Bellevue, NE, Gary retrained in Mathematics, starting as a substitute teacher for Bellevue Public Schools, and eventually securing a full-time position as a Math Instructor
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For years, Gary would follow her to conferences and carry her materials and listen to her stories. One year he asked if she would mind if he sat in on a class and Mary’s dream came true. Gary loved what he hard and became a Certified Positive Discipline Trainer. Today, they enjoy facilitating Positive Discipline workshops together through their small business, Enrich-Abilities, inc.™ for parents, teachers, and also offer parent coaching out of their home. Mary has been teaching Positive Discipline since the early ‘80’s, and has been a Consultant to the Positive Discipline Association (PDA) since its very beginning. Mary has planned Think Tanks, created and chaired both the Mentoring Committee and the Encouragement Committee of the PDA. Gary has served the PDA as Treasurer for the past five years and as a member of the Board of Directors for the past three