WASHINGTON D.C. -- After nine months of dating Mike Pence proposed to his girlfriend, Karen. But she knew she'd agree for a month, engraving a small cross with the word "Yes" and putting it in her purse for when he asks.
Many details about the relationship between former Indiana Governor Mike Pence and his wife, Karen were revealed in a Washington Post profileabout the current second lady of the United States.
In the profile, Karen is described as an "important influence" on Mike, acting as his "gut check and shield."
Some of the highlights:
Before she met Mike, Karen (Batten, at the time) met her first husband in high school. He said they grew apart when he spent many hours at the hospital as a medical student.
“We were kids,” he said. “We probably didn’t necessarily know what we were doing.”
The man last saw her more than 30 years ago. He said he didn't know who she was married to until shortly before the election.
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Mike proposed at a local canal while they feeding ducks. The article doesn't say whether it is the one in Indianapolis. Mike hollowed out two loaves of bread, placing a bottle of champagne in one and the ring box in another.
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She would discover the ring box as she tore off pieces of bread for the ducks.
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In 2002, Mike Pence told the Hill that he never eats alone with a woman other than Karen Pence. He also won't attend events that include alcohol without her.
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In 1991, Karen Pence wrote a letter to the Indianapolis Star, criticizing the paper's "Children's Express" section that she said “encourages children to think they’re gay or lesbian if they have a close relationship with a child of the same sex” or admire a teacher of the same gender.
“I only pray that most parents were able to intercept your article before their children were encouraged to call the Gay/Lesbian Youth Hotline, which encourages them to ‘accept their homosexuality’ instead of reassuring them that they are not,” she wrote to the Star.
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A longtime friend of Karen Pence's said she has stayed close with many of the women she met in church or in the Bible study groups she would lead as first lady of Indiana.
The friend has a disease that lowers her red blood cell production. She said Karen often prays for her hemoglobin count.
“I personally get an occasional text asking me, ‘How are your numbers?’ ” the friend said.
