Wednesday, February 17, 2010

How Did You Two Lovebirds Meet?


http://www.flickr.com/photos/8533266@N04/ / CC BY-NC-SA 2.0

Maybe I'm still in mid-swoon over Valentine's Day, but I just love hearing stories about how sweethearts meet. Don't you?
Like Boston Bill's parents, dancing in the photo above. I don't know Boston Bill, but he posted his parents' love story on flickr, and I'm so glad he did. He writes,

"My parents met on a blind date on New Year’s Eve in 1952. At the end of that first date, at about 4am in the morning, my father proposed marriage to my mother. They formalized their engagement on Valentine’s Day 1953 and had a June wedding in that same year. My father died in May 2003, just three weeks short of their 50th wedding anniversary. We miss him dearly.

This photo of my parents is not from that fateful first date but was taken just a few years later at a New Year’s Eve party in the mid 1950’s. I’ve always imagined that this picture pretty much sums up what that first date would have looked like. Love at first sight? The father that I knew was anything but spontaneous and he resisted change of any sort. Even growing up with full knowledge of this story, I was always a bit skeptical that such a thing could really happen in today’s world. And then I met my wife. But that’s another story."

Isn't that wonderful?

I also think of the story of my husband's maternal grandparents. When Pat's father died, his mother put him in an orphanage. He hated it and ran away, surviving by hiring himself out to farm families needing extra hands. Eventually Pat met up with a traveling evangelist and toured around with him as his guitar player and assistant. One night he met a young girl at a revival, and they fell in love. Mabel was just 16 when she married Pat, and they lived a long and happy life together.

Then there's the Kentucky love story of my parents, who met at a family reunion. No, silly, it's not a joke, and they're not related one least little bit. There wasn't a lot to do in their small town, so when Judy's friend asked her to come along to the big Skaggs reunion, she happily went. (If you think that sounds boring, you obviously haven't been to a Skaggs reunion.)There she saw a good looking boy named Wayne, and her heart went pitter pat. Wayne and Judy started dating, and the next thing you know, they were the it couple of Elliott County High School. Judy followed Wayne to University of Kentucky, and they were married the summer after her freshman year. Guess who was born on Registration Day of her senior year?

My, my. All these children, falling in love and getting married, entirely too early.
Don't listen, Sarah, Ben, and Sam. I think 30 is the perfect age. I really do.

So, friends, tell me your story. How did you meet the love of your life?

I'll tell you mine to get us started, but I warn you, it's a little schmaltzy.

After my sophomore year in college, I was ready to do something crazy. I had gone to college in my own hometown and even roomed my first two years with a good friend from high school. What could I do to shake things up? I considered moving to Denmark, but that seemed a little extreme, so I moved to East campus where I didn't know a soul. We had a floor meeting my second night there, and when the Resident Director stepped out from behind a corner to introduce himself, I stopped breathing. You probably won't believe this --and it might make you gag-- but he was all gold and sparkly. It was love at first sight.

Whew.
I think I need to go find a cold cloth.
Won't you tell me your love story? I'm all ears!

Have a great Wednesday, y'all!
Love, Becky

PS. To get you in the mood, watch Jane Austen's Emma dance with Mr. Knightley.

22 comments:

Tana said...

I met my husband at the tail end of high school. I dumped my old boyfriend faster than you can say goodbye loser and the rest is history. Not so romantic but we were married a year later and have been for twenty years.

Southern Living: Preppy Style said...

Ahh how sweet. And yes, the Skaggs reunion is FAR from boring! :-) Stu and I were much the same way, I saw him and he was all gold and sparkly, my heart went a flutter. It took him about a year longer to get the same feeling for me though (it took his daddy's sister to bonk him in the head and tell him I was in love). And well...you know the rest of the story!

Anonymous said...

Oh! I adore your story! It's like how my neighbors met--he was all sparkly when she first saw him too! That just makes me SMILE!

Ronnie said...

I love how your heart is revealed in your posts.
Ahhh. Thanks for the Emma and Knightley dance. These sweet, subtle, nuances of romantic tension so outclass what I see in high school gyms on prom night.
So, Todd was painted like a character in Goldfinger?
As for Joe and I, we met at Shoney's back when folks pulled their cars up to the little radio on a pole and placed their orders.
"I'll have a Big Boy with a chocolate shake." Then a car pulled up next to mine. We had the same make of car. That's all it took.

Felicity said...

I first met my husband at a youth retreat in his hometown. He wasn't "eligible" at the time, but I couldn't help noticing how cute and talented he was. Six months later he was checking in at my Bible College and every other guy I had ever considered as marriage material paled in comparison. We were instant friends and admirers. We married a year and a half later. We'll celebrate 10 years this summer.

R and L said...

I met my Lady in a Statistics class at work. Although we didn't enjoy the class, we enjoyed getting to know each other. That's about when life became a million times more interesting. 13 years later we got married at the age of 40, and now we've shared 11 most wonderful years together! I always knew she was the right one for me from the start. Nobody else compared.

lotusgirl said...

I love that video. I'm going to have to get that movie. Is it even out yet? My husband and I were introduced by a mutual friend who thought we didn't like each other at first because we didn't really talk to each other. The problem was the friend was so anxious for us to hit it off that he wouldn't shut up. Who could get a word in edgewise? The next day my hubby called me and we talked for hours on the phone. I guess that made up for the first time we met.

Kelly H-Y said...

Such a sweet post. Love it. My hubby and I were good friends through all four years of college plus a couple years beyond that ... and THEN we started dating! :-)

Kat said...

I love "how we met" stories. Thank you for sharing some with us. So romantic.

I posted my husband and my (and my parents') story on my blog. It is listed in my favorites section. It is way too long to write about here, but it is a good one.
Basically we grew up about two miles from each other but never met until he was living half way across the country. He courted me for about a year until I finally gave in. ;)

Rebecca Ramsey said...

You all are the best! I'm loving these stories!
And Lois, I don't know if it's out yet or not. I watched it a week or two ago on Masterpiece Theater. So, so good!

Angela K. Nickerson said...

Oh, what fun stories! We were in college when we met. My husband admired me from afar for nearly a year, evidently. He auditioned for and made it into the choir where I was singing, befriended me... and then I got the flu and suddenly this really sweet guy was bringing me soup and crackers and taking care of me. The rest is history. :)

Patricia said...

Becky,

If I am not mistaken, it was Sandy Hook High School when your parents were there. I didn't know they met at the Skaggs' reunion. Who was Judy's friend that she attended with? My guess is Carrie!

Serenity said...

I feel like I share mine all the time, but I love it so much. I met my husband in fifth grade. We were in a class of about ten in our small town. I loved him immediately. He asked me to "go with him" (by proxy) the next day, but I said we were too young for that! I was never allowed to date. Our mutual admiration remained basically unspoken (mostly) until college when we finally went on our first real date. I would have married him the day after that if anyone had let me!

Rebecca Ramsey said...

Aw...such sweet stories!
And Patricia, I forgot about the name change. Thanks! And I think it was Carrie, but I'm not sure. Mom?

Anonymous said...

It was Carol Sue, Aunt Bea's daughter. They lived just down the road from the Farleys and we visited back and forth some. Carrie was there, as well as lots of other cousins. Since SHHS was small everyone knew who every-one else was. We just hadn't spent time together before the reunion day. We dated for 3 years, and in August we'll celebrate 48 years of marriage!

Love, Mom

Jenny said...

Hope I am not to late to this "falling in love" party. I love those stories and that picture is very dear of Boston Bill's parents. I am thankful I have a "when we met" story because for the longest time I thought i wouldn't have one. On a blind date at age 29 I met my David. I remember that from the moment we met we couldn't stop smiling or talking and sharing. I looked on him with love even then as if I just knew I felt at home with him already. I tell you,if it wasn't for the fact that I had never had a boyfriend before or for our observant caring families we might have gotten engaged the next week. So we waited two weeks after we met to get engaged and then 8 months later we married and now 8 years later I thank the Lord each day for this man and this love.

Rebecca Ramsey said...

Wow Jenny, that's a sweet story. Thank you for sharing it!

David Ebright said...

I told Deb's brother the day I saw her that I was gonna marry his sister. This before we actually met. That was more than 35 years ago. I never proposed - presented her with an engagement ring sitting in the front seat of a white Corvette outside of a convenience store. Romantic huh? We're still nuts about each other. Amazingly - after all these years she has no gray hair. How does that work?

Unknown said...

Those are such darling love stories! I too just love hearing stories on how couples met. I think I must have asked my parents a thousand times how they met.

I met my future husband in traffic school of all places. It was my very first ticket (for speeding). He didn't speak much english then, so we had a difficult time understanding each other at first.

Rebecca Ramsey said...

Very cool, you two! What great stories.

Unknown said...

I met my husband through my roommate; I was having a horrible day at work, and when I came home I told her that I really needed someone to just sit and hold me and listen to me. She told me she knew just the guy. I was mortified when she called him, and he hesitated (he wasn't about to "cuddle with some weird girl") but finally agreed to come over. He knocked on the door, and my roommate opened it. He had his arms spread out wide, a wide grin on his face, and looked over at me. "Tyson's cuddling service!" he announced. Then he came over to the couch, picked me up, and said, "Tell me all about it." He listened to me talk about my bad day, watched "Psych" with me for 4 hours, took me on a motorcycle ride, and I was in love.

Luckily, so was he. :) And yes, he sparkled. :)

Rebecca Ramsey said...

Chantile, I love your story! Yey for happy endings/beginnings!