Sometimes a Blind Date Does Work Out

In keeping with the February theme of how we met our husbands or significant others, here's my story.

Our wedding in 1969

I had a number of blind dates my freshman year in college and they were pretty uniformly disasters. I suffered through the guy who couldn’t manage to string two words together—ever—and the guy who wouldn’t shut up—ever—about the dog he’d left behind at home. There was the guy who turned everything, including the food at dinner, into a political cause. The one who drank too much. The one groping me almost before we’d exchanged names.

The only one I met who interested me apparently didn’t feel the same way. He never called back. 

By the end of the year I’d sworn off blind dates.

But one month into my sophomore year, a friend of a friend of a friend needed a date and asked me if I’d go. She knew I didn’t have plans for the weekend. My first inclination was to say, no thanks, no way, not ever again. But I didn’t have a good excuse, really, and I was a bit bored, so I said yes.

Best call I ever made.  He turned out to be really cute, really nice, and really compatible. We hit it off right away, found out we had a lot in common (we both read mysteries and science fiction!), and we talked and talked. And then there was the chemistry thing. Definitely there. I think I knew by the end of the first date we’d be getting married eventually.

A year and a half later we did.  And as of last November, we’ve been married 45 years. It hasn’t all been roses. We’ve had our difficulties, arguments, and hard times. Sometimes we gritted our teeth and hung on by our fingernails. But we’d made a commitment to each other, and the love was still there beneath it all.  That got us through.

It’s totally been worth it.

True story from our Wedding:  I was standing in the back of the church with my Dad waiting for our cue to head up the aisle. A nicely dressed, middle-aged man rushed in at the last minute.  My dad stepped toward him, extended his hand and said, “Hi, I’m John Gxxxxxx. The other man shook his hand and said, “Hi, I’m your brother, Jimmy.” They hadn’t seen each other in years and my wedding was the occasion for them re-connecting.