Romance is a staple of human existence. It’s been that way since the beginning of life on planet earth. It looks different in every era and culture, but it’s there.
My husband and I met at a 7-11 store, where I worked, and he stopped in to get a cold drink on his way to a service call. We met on November 11, 1987, and married on January 23, 1988. And I have not used a 7-11 or that date in my stories–yet.
So, TKZ friends and lovers, here’s your question for this Reader Friday episode: How did you and your significant other meet?And, have you used that time and place in your own writing?
We have company from Atlanta today, so I’ll be in and out. I have a fancy-schmancy phone, though, so I’ll be lurking around the TKZ halls spying on y’all. 🙂
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Two novels which explore the uncertainty of life on earth, and how our relationships with each other provide joy in the midst of that uncertainty. Available on Amazon, B&N, and ThriftBooks.
Husband and I are both PhDs in hard science (physical chemistry and nuclear engineering), and we met in grad school in Madison, WI. It did turn out we had a few friends in common.
But I tell people I married my sailing instructor, because he taught beginners how to use the one-sail Tech dinghies that were for beginners at the UW sailing club, to earn points so he could learn on and sail the biggest of the club’s sailboats.
I showed up for my first lesson to find a cute guy in baggy shorts looking around for ‘Olivia’ (an insult to my handwriting), ended up taking the three required lessons, including righting the dinghy from turtling it, and sailing it back to the dock. He took me sailing and used me for ballast (out over the gunwale in a halter tied to the mast), showed me how to use a spinnaker, and dragged me through the water when the wind died down. We’ve done three children and 49 years so far.
Then school got hard, and jobs took time, and there was not enough sailing except for an occasional catamaran on vacation. With a storm chasing us in.
I haven’t had a chance to use any of this in my novels, but you’ve reminded me to bear the idea in mind when certain small fry are big enough. Thanks!
What a story, Alicia! I love it.
And you absolutely must find a way to work some tidbits into a story. As JSB would say, “Carpe typem!”
Have a great day. 🙂
Forgot to mention that my mother paid for the sailing club membership, and urged me to try it.
She approved when I finally brought him home – brave guy – to Mexico City, for a sister’s wedding.
Another great tidbit!
Thanks, Alicia…
Great topic!
Everyone has a couple of these stories tucked away.
We met the first time at church – my mom introduced us. Neither of us was impressed. Then we ran into each other and . . . long story short, got married 6 months later. I haven’t used that meet up in any of my books. But now maybe I should!
Neither of us was impressed.
Ha! I knew this question would open the floodgates of virtual smiles & arm punches. Sounds like once Mom was out of the way (so to speak, and meaning no disrespect) you saw things differently. Good for you!
Have a good Friday. 🙂
Met when he was the TA for a lab section for a biology class I was taking at UCLA. There were only 3 females in the section: one was engaged, the other had a steady boyfriend, so he was stuck with me. Met in October, engaged in February, married in August. 55th anniversary coming up next month for us.
…so he was stuck with me.
🙂 🙂
Great story, Terry. Life intersections are some of the best stories, and yours is certainly one. 55 years-my hat is off to you.
Have a great day!
3/6/93 – magic date. Magic day. We were both working on setting up an office lab. I’ve used the date (or numbers) in my writing. We still celebrate the day.
Hey Steve! A day that will live on forever it sounds like.
Alan & I met on 11/7/87, and in my mind that day is just as important as 1/23/88, the day we got married at my parents’ home. (With my sister and parents in attendance . . . and our 7 children we share.) 🙂
Busy, happy day.
Have a good one!
I walked out of my dorm on the second day of college and saw him leaning against a pillar, ankles crossed. Boots, bell-bottom button-fly Levis, a snug tee emphasizing his muscular arms and shoulders, longish hair and beard, and I fell. He was everything my parents had warned me against, of course, but my uncle, who was the president of the Lutheran college we attended, assured my mother that he was a good boy from a good family.
That good boy has satisfied my wanderlust for 52 years, taking me all over the world. We dropped out of college and got married, much to the dismay of both our parents. I haven’t used this in a book and probably won’t, but the experiences we’ve had on our travels are certainly part of everything I write.
Another wonderful story, Becky! I love this: He was everything my parents had warned me against…
Sometimes you just have to go with your gut, and this time it worked. Wow! 52 years.
Your story reminds me of a friend of mine, who met her husband at college. She was walking down an outside stairway, he was walking by on the sidewalk. She missed the last step, fell at his feet, and the rest is history. 🙂
Have a good one!
I was a young, single woman, a couple of years out of college and working as a software developer for IBM. I had fulfilled a childhood dream of owning my own horse and spent many hours riding.
One day the owner of the stable where I boarded my horse announced that his younger brother was coming home from grad school at Carnegie Mellon for a few days, and he wanted me to meet him. When the owner explained that his brother was a brilliant guy getting a PhD in high energy physics, I wasn’t sure I was up to that level of intelligence. But when we met, we both knew it was something special.
We’ve been married 54 years. We tell people we met at a horse barn and that’s why we have such a stable marriage. 🙂
I did use scenes with horses in Dead Man’s Watch. Good memories.
We tell people we met at a horse barn and that’s why we have such a stable marriage.
🙂 I bow to your superb humor…
Kay, I’m so glad I didn’t chicken out on this post idea! Y’all are making me smile this morning, and you’re filling my heart with gratitude that there are such stories out there. I belong to a local group called StoryWriters. Their tag line is Everyone Has a Story… Certainly true this morning, and I hope all of you are enjoying it as much as I am.
Thank you for stopping by and for sharing your horse story. 🙂
10/4/78: I’d been working at a small bottling plant for windshield cleaner for the past month, after school, when that Wednesday the assistant foreman brought in a brand-new hire to introduce to us. I still remember the way her dark blond hair shone in light as she walked in behind him. She went to a different high school than I did, and was a sophomore, while I was a senior.
A few days later, I greeted her at work with “hello, beautiful,” and she replied, “hello, handsome.” Two weeks later, I asked her out, to my high school’s homecoming. However, a sudden outbreak of measles at my high school canceled homecoming so we went to dinner and then roller skating afterwards and had a fantastic time.
We started dating young, so it wasn’t until we were both in college in early 1982 that we married. We’re still going strong.
In my latest 1980s cozy library mystery, Book Drop Dead there is some romance on wheels at the neighborhood skating rink.
Morning, Dale!
From windshield cleaner to romance . . . who knew? In the right place at the right time with the right words. Love your story, Dale, and it’s cool you used a piece of it in your cozy.
Thanks for skating on in and chatting this morning. Have a good one!
I just wrote about this on my Substack.
And if you haven’t read it, you must mosey on over to Jim’s substack. It’s a delightful story that’ll warm the cockles. BTW, anyone know what a cockle is??
Thanks for jumping into the romantic fray this morning, my friend! Have a good one.
I was a reporter for the El Paso Times in 1987 when I was assigned to take a media trip to the Mexican Food Capital of the World cook-off in Albuquerque, New Mexico. I rode on the bus with a dozen or more journalists, including my future husband, who was a videographer for KDBC in El Paso. On one of the stops I sat with him and a radio journalist from Ciudad Juarez. He was trying to get her to go out with him. When she said no, he turned to me and said, “How about you, would you go out with me?” Put on the spot and feeling like a consolation prize, I said I’d think about it. A week later he called and asked me to go to a Christmas party with him (it snowed a few feet and we couldn’t get to the party so we sat at a Denny’s and talked for hours.). Three months later we got married. We’ve been married for 36 years. I haven’t used this story in a novel, but I do use it as proof that couples can meet and fall in love in a very short time. Readers (and authors) sometimes poo-poo the romance genre for love-at-first-sight stories. It happens! BTW El Paso won the jalapeno crown for the Mexican Food Capital of the World contest.
Kelly, we’re practically twins!
My husband and I met in 1987 and married a couple of months later, 36.5 years ago.
And another part of my story was that when we met at that 7-11, he came to my register, bought his soda, handed me a note, and said, “Call me if you’d like to have lunch sometime.” It was about 2 weeks later that I fished his note out of my pocket. I could not for the life of me read his handwriting. Couldn’t even decipher his name. It took about 10 wrong numbers before I finally got hold of him. I guess in this case, persistence paid off. 🙂
Thanks for stopping by this morning and adding to the grin on my face!
Terrific question, Deb. I met Don in college. He was my teacher, but we didn’t date until after school was out. We’ve been married 53 years.
Hey Elaine!
Thanks for stopping by and adding to the Romance Round Robin today.
53 years…love it!
🥳🥳🥳
Molly and I met in Kindergarten. Really. We went through school together, living about two blocks a partI. We went out twice in high school, but nothing much came of it.
After college I called her to ask if she wanted to see “Fiddler on the Roof” and the Muny theater. She did. She didn’t tell me she was a season ticket holder, so she saw Fiddler twice that week. It was July 16. 1987. We have seen Fiddler together about five times in the past 35 years. 🙂
It was fun when we were engaged.
“You got engaged? Congratulations! How long have you known her?”
“22 years.”
“You have not been going out for 22 years.”
“Oh. We have been going out for about 6 months.
Oh my, Alan! What a great story.
As I said, I’m so glad I went with this subject today.
Thank you so much for dropping in today.
🥳🥳
My high school graduating class was about 440. More than a dozen couples met in high school and are now married. My football buddy Terrance has been married for 30 something years to the cheerleader who sat between us in class. Two classmates started talking at our 30th reunion. Between not living in the same city and COVID they ended up engaged for ten years. They just celebrated anniversary #2.
💕💕💕
Joy and I met on a blind date. My boss was dating her sister. For me, it literally was love at first sight. She opened the door of her apartments and I was done. That was 42 years ago next month.
Welcome to the mushy stuff, Mr. Gilstrap.
Wow! For a bunch of mostly crime/thriller/with-a-smattering-of-romance authors, you all are pretty soft-boiled in real life. 😊
Loved your “and I was done”…perfect!
Have a great weekend. 👍