All’s Well that Ends Well

I had such fun reading the “how we met” stories that many of you sent in when you entered my Valentine month giveaway. Churches were a hot spot for finding a sweetheart. Next were workplaces and schools, but the best thing about many of the stories is that the love lasted. Here are three stories where the beginning was not quite as romantic as one might hope, but however that first meeting went, things did eventually warm into romance.

Lori’s Story

First here’s Lori’s story. She really wasn’t impressed with her first sight of her eventual sweetheart.

36 years ago our church had a work week up at the church’s camp, Camp Paradise.  I didn’t want to go, but my mom packed my bag and made sure I was there to board the bus. Moms can be so pushy at times. Sigh.

I didn’t meet Phil until we were getting ready to leave. He and some other guys were at the water’s edge putting luggage into boats to cross the river. I took my luggage and gave it to him, all the time praying that he wouldn’t talk to me. And he didn’t. He was the skinniest person and his hair was plastered to his head from not being washed for a week. Uggh. No thanks. LOL

We left on two buses. He was in the front one that had air conditioning and I was in the second without air conditioning.  It was a good 8-10 hour drive. Halfway home we stopped at McDonalds for lunch. For whatever reason, Phil decided to come back to the second bus. Oh man, really? The only place left to sit was with me. Uggh! To say I was not happy or Christian-like in my thoughts was a huge understatement. LOL.  We ate our lunch in silence. Finally he started to talk to me. I still wasn’t going for it. But he persisted. My thought was “Ok, fine I will talk to you. Maybe it will keep you quiet.”

It is really funny sometimes how the Lord works things for His good. This was a tough lesson for me over the years. Anyway, I quite enjoyed talking to this twig of a man. He was very intelligent with a dry sense of humor. (Which after 35 years I still don’t always get. I am more of a categorical humor person.) We really enjoyed our time together. Soon it was midnight and we were back at the church. We said our goodbyes.

I worked for my dad, and Gina, a friend also from church, after hearing about the whole experience, said she knew who I was talking about and that we were perfect for each other. What???  No!!! Yes. She set up our first date. He came and picked me up and we went to a live theater. He didn’t think I liked it so he wasn’t going to ask me out again.

Gina on the other hand wasn’t going to be dissuaded so easily. She set us up again after a lot convincing to Phil. We went out to a church picnic and really had a great time. We decided that “what the heck, let’s see if this goes anywhere.”  We became really good at closing down restaurants because we were finding so much to talk about.

A year and a half later we were married. Last September was 35 years. And my non-romantic, analytical introvert and I are more in love now.

Shiela’s Blind Date Story

Shiela met her future husband in a little different way. Hers is not the only story I got of a blind date not quite turning out the way somebody expected.

How I met my husband-well it’s an interesting story. I was still in high school and a friend fixed me up on a blind date with an older man! While with him I met his brother. We both had weird first impressions of each other. He was flirting with me when I was his brother’s date so I thought what a flirt!  He thought I looked like an old maid! Why would he flirt with an old maid!

Next date we were at a family birthday gathering and I had the strangest feeling I should be with him instead of his brother. Well, Danny and I quit dating as we really didn’t hit it off. Then Jon called and the rest is history. We’ll be married 55 years in June!

One day we were talking about this with our kids & they were shocked to hear I had dated Uncle Danny! One other note- sometime later I fixed my good friend Mary Jane up with Danny & they ended up together! They celebrated 50 years 2 years ago!

Ted’s Story

And Ted has a fun way of putting his first meeting with his eventual wife. Hate at first sight. I told him that device has been used often in romance stories. Looks as though it worked for Ted and his wife too.

I met my wife at work and it was hate at first sight.  Forced to work together on a project, the differences faded and we have now been married 36 years!

Did these stories make you smile?

Giveaway winners: 

I drew my three winners on Saturday and contacted them by e-mail. The winners were Jane Squires, Tera Weaver, and Connie Schaeffer. I haven’t heard from Jane or Connie. So if you happen to read this, ladies, check your e-mail box. I also picked a just because winner as I sometimes do and that is Barbara Myus.

Some Fun Extras Coming Up in March

I’ll host a guest on this coming Wednesday. Cynthia Herron recently published her first book, Her Hope Discovered. She’s going to talk about that and more and will be giving away a copy of her book to one of you if you’ll drop by and leave a comment on her post Wednesday. Then the next week on March 14th, I’ll be part of a Scavenger Hunt here. Those are always fun with scads of prizes. So watch for that.

As always thanks for reading!