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How Did You Meet Your Honey?

It was the summer before my senior year in college.  I stayed in the
area for a summer job.  Three friends and I agreed to go in together on
an apartment for the summer.  We thought we had one lined up, but a
week before we were to move in, it fell through.  So we were
scrambling.  For the few weeks until we could find another place, I
negotiated with several families to trade my babysitting services for
room and board.  During that time, one of our roommates dropped out.

Bear with me here.  These details DO pertain to the story, I promise!

So we found a sublease on an apartment at the nearby seminary, and we
moved in.  But we still needed another roommate to help make the rent.
We advertised in a local paper, and there was just one response — from a girl
whose boyfriend lived at the seminary.  She thought it would be fun to
live close to him for the summer.  She was a college graduate living in
the area, and I still have no idea why she was interested in a
two-month rental arrangement.  It seemed strange.  SHE seemed
strange.  But, like I said, she was the only person who answered the ad.
So she moved in.

Her boyfriend was in and out some, and my other two roommates and I all agreed that he was, um, a little different.  Nice guy, but, you know, different.

After a few weeks, they started telling me that I should date this
guy’s roommate.  I couldn’t help but wonder what sort of strange bird
the roommate would be.  I pretty much ignored their attempts to set us
up.  Evidently they were bugging him about me too.

At the beginning of August, I got a phone call.

"Um.  This is your roommate’s boyfriend’s roommate," said a male voice on the other end of the line.

"I guess that would be Paul," I said.

"Yeah."  Swallow.  "So. I was wondering if you’d like to go out to dinner this weekend."

I figured, what do I have to lose?  I didn’t exactly have men beating down my door.  So I said, "sure", and we set a time.

My roommate was ecstatic.  She assured me he was
good-looking and nice and fun, and even admitted to a small
crush on him at one point.  That did little to instill
confidence.

The night of the date arrived.  He would pick me up at six.  I rushed
home from my babysitting job, arriving home at 5:30 after a day at the
beach.  I jumped in the shower and got ready in less than 30 minutes.  I KNOW!  Remarkable, isn’t it?

I
remember what I wore — a white t-shirt and my favorite red
gingham miniskirt.  I thought it was adorable.  But years later, my husband
would tell me all he could think of when he looked at it was a
picnic tablecloth.  Fortunately for him, he waited until after we were married
to make this pronouncement.

When he knocked at the door that night, my roommate introduced us.  He was a
welcome surprise — tall, dark and handsome and not a bit different.

We went to dinner.  Afterwards neither of us wanted to go home, so we
decided to see a movie.  We continued dating throughout my senior year
of college, which was also his final year of seminary.

When it came time to graduate, I wasn’t sure I was ready for marriage,
so we went to our respective homes — him to Pennsylvania and me to
Virginia.  After being apart for a month, I knew I didn’t want to live
another minute without him.  We got
engaged in September and married the following August.  And here we
are, 13 years and 3 kids later!

So today I thank God a) for the apartment that fell through, and b) the first
roommate that dissed us, and c) that we only got one answer to that ad in
the newspaper.

NOTE:  My husband would tell you that his two roommates had been bugging him all summer
to call me, and he wasn’t interested in dating anyone.  He was immersed
in his seminary studies and working full-time as a security officer.
When he finally made the call, he said it was basically to get them off his
back.  So I’m also thankful that d) he had two really annoying roommates
who basically goaded him into calling this mystery girl.

ANOTHER NOTE:  The roommates got married as well.  We still hear from them occasionally.

Originally posted 9/12/2006.

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17 Responses

  1. Cute story. It’s amazing how things turn out isn’t it. Your post inspired me to post mine at my blog.

  2. Hi,

    I met my husband on a cruise. Yep, it is true. 1991 I was on the cruise with my friend from college (I lived in San Diego) and he was on the cruise with a bunch of guys from his work (He lived in Michigan). We met the first day on a Carribean Cruise, and his 8 friends, and my friend and I, and a few others hung out together the entire cruise. We spent hours talking and getting to know each other. Neither of us were looking for love :). After the cruise, I was so sad, I thought I’d never see him again, and he was thinking the same. But, we talked on the phone the very next day and from then on, we wrote letters (before email) and called each other, and then met up in Chicago 2 months later to see if this was the “the real thing”. And we knew then it was….9 months later I moved to Michigan from San Diego, and we have been happily married for 15 years, and have twins. 🙂

    Kelly

  3. So a cute story. Thanks for re-posting it. My husband and I also met at college. He thought I was snobby and I thought he was a redneck. Neither of our assumptions proved to be true. 20 years and 2 children later I am sure that he is the man God intended for me to marry and create a family with. I adore him.

  4. What a great story! Just goes to show that when God has a plan, He’ll make a way. My hubby and I met on a singles Christian website. God made a way!

  5. That is a great story. My husband and I were introduced by an older man who was friends with his dad and my parents. Later, when it became obvious that I was about to become the first one married in the group of young adult women I hung out with he tried to break us up because he wanted his daughter to get married first (I never could figure that one out). We’re married, his daughter is married and one other girl is married, 3 of them are “old maids” and I don’t know what happened to the other 4 or 5. We’ve lost contact with each other in the 8 years I’ve been married.

  6. Great story.

    Mine is a bit similar – one of my best friends was going out with a guy, and they kept trying to fix me up with his brother “You two would get on – he’s religious too!”. We first met in a village called Ahoghill (how romantic!) over my friend’s parents table at Sunday lunch. The only thing I remember thinking was he looked too much like his brother (and that was not necessarily a good thing) He says he remembers my smile :).

    A few weeks later he rang me up and said “Guess who this is” – and I had no idea – he had to tell me eventually! He asked me out, and as with you, I said “sure” without much expectation.

    We had a great meal, and sat in his car for hours after, just chatting. We started dating a few weeks later, and the rest is history! Married 4 years later, when he graduated from medical school and 16 years later (!) we have 3 kids.

  7. That was fun to read! I love “how we me” stories. My anniversary is in 4 days, maybe I’ll post mine – what better timing than an anniversary? Though, it’s also our son’s birthday, and I already have his birth story ready to post, which is LONG, so I’m not sure if I should do two lengthy posts in one day!!

  8. I love hearing how people met. We are college sweethearts too. I had just about given up on boys when he FINALLY asked me out. 6 months later we were engaged…6 months later we were married…15 years later still madly in love. God knows what he’s doing. 😉

  9. How cool! I’ll have to post our story in the next day or so. I’m up to my ears in changing my daughter’s room around so I don’t know if I have the energy to type it out just yet. But it is a funny story so please stop over and read it. 🙂

  10. So fun to hear about how you met! My husband and I met in high school – in Algebra class, to be exact. He was the student body president and the captain of the soccer team…and he swept me off my feet with his green eyes, his boyish smile, his persistence.

  11. LOL. The Picnic Skirt comment was hilarious.

    Man… I hate that my story is so bland these days “We met online, we met online, we met online” blah blah blah. Though the actual MEETING my hubby in person was a magical, love at first site date.

  12. yep… you inspired me to write my own “how we met” story as well. our memories are a bit fresher as we are still in our honeymoon phase – only married since February!

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