Photo by Bonnie Holland
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At First Sight
By Monica Hesse, January & February 2006
Every great love story begins somewhere. We set out to discover the chance meetings with romance that changed people’s lives
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Forrest Dannenbring fell in love the minute he saw Marjorie Bone. It was in 1943 at Muskingum College in Ohio. He was a soldier, she was a soprano, and both were early for choir practice.
My grandparents love to tell this, the story of their first meeting. Their later courtship would involve medical school, posts to the Philippines, and several hundred shared pints of ice cream. They've been married for 60 years, but it's the initial starry-eyed moments that they come back to again and again, that define their relationship and amuse their grandchildren.
With Valentine's Day approaching, we editors at AARP The Magazine thought a lot about first meetings and decided to ask our readers how they found their sweethearts. Some of the stories are touching; some are funny. Some are wonderful because they're bizarre; some are wonderful because they're mundane. The most uplifting thing we learned from the hundreds of letters we received? Happy endings begin in many different ways.
Late one night I heard someone banging around in the hallway outside my apartment door. It was so loud, I finally got up to investigate. When I opened my door, a man fell into my kitchen—passed-out drunk. I tried to shove him back into the hall, but he was too heavy. Instead, I left him on the floor, went to my bedroom, pushed the dresser in front of my door, and went back to sleep. Not long after, I married the lug.
—Ann Frick, Mocksville, North Carolina
My wife and I met at a salon on Halloween. She was getting a manicure; I was having a fingernail of my vampire costume fixed. She thought I was either really weird or really fun but decided to hope for the latter.
—Sandy Bumgarner, Rohnert Park, California
I used to work as a probation officer in western Washington State. I had one difficult parolee who kept reoffending. I was forever convincing him to go to the eastern side of the state—out of my jurisdiction. Once there, he'd reoffend and another parole officer would get him to move back west! Finally, this other officer and I decided to meet to discuss the problem. "This other officer" is now my wife. We didn't invite the probationer to the wedding.
—Bill O'Connor, Anchorage, Alaska
I met the love of my life on July 1, 2005. We saw each other July 3, 4, and 5, and married on the 6th. When you wait 63 years for your soulmate, you're really sure when she comes along.
—J.D. Stucker, Shelbyville, Kentucky
A recently divorced father, I phoned a local resource center to see if they knew of any single mothers who'd like a place to stay, rent-free, in exchange for watching my kids. For ten years this fantastic woman cared for "hers" and "mine." Then we got married, and now she cares for "ours."
—John Grote, Bonney Lake, Washington
I was singing in a folk concert and planning to move to Washington the next day. But halfway through my set I heard a lovely voice harmonizing with me from the audience. I never made that trip. Instead, my wife and I just celebrated 24 years of marriage.
—J.E. McCreary, Virginia Beach, Virginia
In college I had a crush on the lead guitarist of a band, whose poster hung on my dorm-room wall. A few years after graduating, I was working at a record store and began seeing a coworker. Despite the time I'd spent staring at his poster, it took me several weeks to realize I was dating my crush.
—Adriana Cordero, Washington, D.C.
A friend was appearing on a local TV talk show, so I offered to tape it on my VCR. I didn't hear a word he said the whole segment because I was focused on the attractive interviewer. Weeks later at a dinner, I spotted a familiar man—the TV host. I got up the nerve to talk to him and managed to ask him out within two minutes of conversation.
—Bob Witeck, Arlington, Virginia
The University of Illinois has an orientation tradition: freshmen make blind phone calls to other dorms to meet people. Our first night, my roommate and I got a call from two guys living across campus. We decided to meet, and one of the gentlemen callers, my future husband, placed dibs on me the minute I walked into the diner.
—Sharon Ruch, Laporte, Colorado
I was in full clown makeup, performing at a festival. He was a cute guitar player who saw through the greasepaint.
—Cynthia Hinson, Conroe, Texas
My now-husband found my lost wallet at the grocery store. He returned it and asked me on a date. I declined. A year later he tracked me down and asked again. I stood him up. Another year later he coincidentally showed up at the DMV where I work, to get his license renewed. Finally, I got the message. This time, I asked him out.
—Barbara Youssef, Phoenix, Arizona
In 1960, I was in high school and dating a soldier named Johnny. Before returning to his post, Johnny asked his friend Carl to be sure to pick me up from school every day. He did, and 45 years later he's still taking me home.
—Sandra Euglow, Byers, Colorado
We met in a pub in World War II London. A German buzz bomb exploded nearby, and we both dove under the same table for cover.
—Mary Corrigan, Grand Rapids, Michigan
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