My Love Story

I was 35 and had lived an independent life: I had traveled much, lived and worked in the West and in the East, and met many wonderful people. Yes, life had been great - except one thing: I had never met the special someone with whom I wanted to share my life. Being 35 (not exactly a spring chicken anymore) I did not expect that this would happen anymore. Sad.

Well, I have a good friend – her name is Birgit. She is rather a sister to me because her mom lived in my dad’s house and we girls grew up together. Birgit has been part of my life since I was twelve (she was 17 than) and over the years I met all her other relatives. We all got very close and liked each other dearly. My big family!

The day that changed everything was when Birgit turned 40 and she threw her big birthday celebration and belated wedding party in the country side near the German Harz mountains. Of course, I was invited and knew most of the guests. Well, most of them - except one… “Inga, this is my cousin Michel. Funny, but I think you have never met before”, Birgit said. It turned out that we were both from Berlin and actually neighbors! I looked at him and thought: “Oh my, what a show off!” He wore snake leather boots and his shirt was unbuttoned to the belly button! I just started talking to him because I wanted to tease him.

Still My Hero

How we met is not so exciting - although, of course it did feel exciting at the time!  We worked together at a mental health facility; I was an art therapist.  The story I tell is that we ran groups together and when a little male urchin in the group heaved a metal stool at me, Larry caught it in mid-air just in front of my face.  He saved me many medical bills and was from then on my hero!  The story is true, but in fact he had already become my hero.  Much of the rest of our story is connected to winning his family over,as I am not Jewish.  After we had been together some time, Larry was severely burned in a cooking accident.Finally he came home from the hospital after three months.Since  I was going to be in charge of his home care, I had to be trained in changing the dressings etc.
I picked him up from the hospital and we headed home.Knowing how weak he had become,I had his bed set up downstairs so he could come in and just fall into it, which is exactly what he did.  I also had an old black and white TV which had a pull button to turn it on.

Are You Single?

I hope it's okay to write a story about someone you met and dated only a few times.
My friend and I used to go skiing on our days off. Since we worked at a health club, and made no money at all, we used to try to sneak on the lifts without buying a ski pass. The trick was to split up, find the singles in line, get on the outside so the lift attendant couldn't check for your ticket, and be deep in a lively conversation as you got on the lift. Of course, the other "trick" was to find the cute guys in line. Why waste time?
This one day we arrived and I immediately saw this very cute guy who looked perfect to be an "illegal" lift partner. I skied over and said, "Are you single?" I had meant to say "a single" but I guess my real meaning came out. He laughed and said "Yes". This was a slow chairlift that went all the way to the top of the mountain. We had lots of time to chat. We skied together all day, and he even changed lines for me so I wouldn't be caught without a ticket. He was only in town for the week, but we had a great time together. So ladies, if you want to know something...just ask.

She Still Lights Up The Room

Illumination occurs in many ways. A room can light up from a switch turning on a bulb, or from the love radiating from a special person.

 In the late 1970s I was living for a few winters in Stowe, VT and returning to Ocean City, MD for the summer seasons. In 1981 I had decided that it was time to move on from the beach life, and called my former employers at a country inn to see if I could work there again. The innkeeper told me that my job was available, and I made arrangements to arrive just before Christmas. On December 23 I began a journey that involved several modes of transportation including a Greyhound bus, an overnight Amtrak train, and a friend who met me in Waterbury, VT and drove me to the inn. I walked in, tired from the trip, greeted the innkeepers, and was introduced to some of the staff that was working.

The Secret Formula Succeeds

Probably the best place to meet anyone on a blind date is in a beer tent at a beer fest in Germany especially if you are into your second mug of beer. The rules for engagement or in the case of most blind dates, disengagement are plentiful at a beer fest. The avenues for escape are immense and are arrayed in all directions via the endless lines of tables filled with people. The haze of smoke and bleary eyed witnesses is also advantageous to one seeking an exit earlier than anticipated. It is under these circumstances that Larry met Sally in August of 1980 in Augsburg, Germany (in those days it was West Germany rather than just Germany).

One Steamy Night In Kyoto

In Kyoto, Japan, the August nights remain almost as hot as the days, hovering in the high 80s and unbearably humid. On just such a sticky Friday night in 2008, I rode my bicycle down to Kyoto's famed Kiyamachi Street, long-known as the shame of Kyoto for its throngs of drunken university students and rows of sleazy hostess bars, love hotels, and porn rental cafes. The man-made Takase River, barely a  trickle of water running over the cobblestones, divides the street down the center.
I was going through a phase where I didn't want to care about anyone, so I danced the night away alone, surrounded by friends. Exhausted, dehydrated, and sweaty, I left the club at 4:00 am. As I left, I was approached by a boy with dark skin, a hawk nose, rich brown eyes, and shaggy black hair. Left hand in pocket, right hand outstretched, he strode over to me, belting out in a chipper British accent with an assuring smile, "Hey! I'm Amrik." Just another guy, I told myself. Don't get attached.

How We Met...Again

There are many metaphors used to describe relationships and marriage. Mine is of a stream that starts as a small rivulet and travels through gorgeous valleys, craggy gorges, dangerous rapids and around man-made dams hopefully to a peaceful pond in the distance.

Our journey began when I was finishing medical school. We had each just fallen out of lengthy relationships that had not worked out. And with me planning to move in another year to begin residency, neither of us was looking to build a longstanding relationship.

Interestingly, 34 years later, when we now compare stories of how we met and exactly when the spark was lit, we have completely different versions. So much so that the versions won’t even stitch together into a cohesive whole. Such is the fruit of impending senility. However, in a way, we actually met again 13 years ago.  And in some ways, that meeting, and its consequences make the details of our initial meeting pale in significance.

Lucky Day

Here is a "how we met" legend, passed along from  a fellow Vermonter to you.

When I was 20 I took a year off from college to take a break from the books. I got a job driving a delivery truck for a local egg farm: Lucky Day Eggs.
My day started at 5:00AM, and my job was to make egg deliveries to  a bunch of small restaurants in our area. My favorite stop was at a little delicatessen called The Lunch Box. I'd get there around 8:00AM and get to talk with the girl who was getting everything ready for the upcoming lunch rush. She was really cute and I was "in love", but how do you make a move during a ten minute egg delivery? Well one day the truck broke down by the restaurant where my cute girl worked. Now I had the time I needed...got the phone number...got the date...got the girl. And the title of this story?...It's obvious.

Strategies That Work

Sarah and I met two ways. The first time we met, it was at the nursery at University Hospital in Cleveland. She was visiting her new nephew and I was visiting my new niece -- both recent graduates of the birthing program there. We chatted but I went off to visit my sister and she her sister-in-law and we somehow missed connecting again that day.

Then, about three months later, we met at a bar. So we have both stories -- the cute one and the dissipated one!

We both suffered from that "don't I know you from somewhere" feeling, but were both too embarrassed to use such an obvious pick-up line. Anyway, we started dating the very next day. 28 days later we were engaged. Six months later, married. My strategy: don't give Sarah time to think that she may be making a mistake.