Happy Anniversary

I was a shy college junior who had never dated in high school and had never had a real “date” in college.  Since I attended the “party” school in Minnesota, it was not unusual to be seen at parties with friends.  After moving into an apartment in a private home in my sophomore year along with five other girls, we decided we needed to keep our eyes open for the men out there.  Since our apartment was situated on a street that included sororities and fraternities, we determined that searching would not be too difficult.  Some time in January of that school year, we noticed that just across the street from our apartment the house was sporting a legal stop sign on the porch wall.  It was winter with lots of snow and we saw that one of the guys didn’t mind running out to his car in bare feet!  As we continued watching that house and the comings and goings, we decided it was time to meet the characters that lived there.  After all, we were just being neighborly! 

Valentine weekend was our goal for making introductions.  However, I was needed 60 miles away to care for my grandmother that weekend.  I packed my bag (which was extremely heavy with the addition of my German-English dictionary), told my roommates to wait for my return before taking over the heart-shaped Rice Krispie treat, and then left.  Outside, one of those “crazy” characters was shoveling his car out of a big snowbank.  I liked his looks and did a most unusual thing for me:  I asked if he would like to take me to the bus depot.  He replied that if I waited a few minutes his car would be free from the snow.  We chatted on the trip to the bus depot and that was it.

When I returned from the weekend away from school, my roommates were all atwitter with their news that they had met the guys across the street and that the guys had loved the Rice Krispie heart.  I was crushed because they had even had a tour of the house.  But then I got a call from the one who had given me a lift and he invited me over for a private tour.  

A short time later I learned that I had succeeded in stealing my guy away from his high school sweetheart!  We continued dating but he then was called up in the draft and had to leave for basic training.  I knew we were a team when he left his prized car for me to use while he was at boot camp.  

This all happened 45 years ago and on September 4 of this year we will celebrate our 44^th wedding anniversary.  Not only is this man my husband but he is also my closest friend.