From Field Peas to Blue Seas

He buzzed up to my door on his motorbike selling field peas in 1942. In 2000 after 53 years of marriage full of wild, wonderful times in places from Hawaii to the Bahamas, he left this planet.

-- Rose from Jena, La.

New Year, New Love

Our story starts back in 1964 in a little town of Tewksbury, Massachusetts. I was the type of young man that was a little on the wild side and my thoughtful sister wanted to slow me down a bit by setting me up with a blind date. This was on New Years Eve, a little party at her friend’s house. The girl that she set me up with was very pretty and also very nice but she just was not my type and halfway through the evening she wanted to go home. During the party my eye caught this other girl standing on the other side of the room and something told me she was the one. So I immediately escorted the girl home that I had taken to the party. On my return I arranged for my brother in law to direct the girl of my future to me by his dancing with her and letting me cut in just before the stroke of midnight. Well the plan worked and at midnight the bells and whistles went off. The New Year’s kiss followed. Two years later I had asked her father’s permission to ask Janyce for her hand in marriage, which he gave. We were married in August 1966, and forty-four years later we still hear those bells and whistles whenever we look into each other’s eyes.

-- Albert from New Vineyard, Maine

Long Time, No See

Love was the last thing that I expected to find when my best friend and I went out for a night of fun at the Iowa State Fair nearly five years ago. I was a divorcee with three kids, having fun just being single. My friend Missy and I were talking and playing games, when I noticed a gorgeous man about 15 feet across the way. I said to my friend, “Oh my Lord! That is the man I am going to spend the rest of my life with!” I asked her to hold my drink and wait for me, while I approached him.

I walked up to the handsome man and asked what his name was, breathless as I drank in his appearance. “Jeremiah,” he responded. In an instant, just a mere second, my mind reacted. Could this be the young man that had been my boyfriend 16 years before? Was this the boy that I would follow around, hoping to see skateboard with his rebel Mohawk haircut? Was it the same boy who I had shared my first kiss with on the playground at the now nonexistent Rice Elementary School? It had to be. How many Jeremiah’s could there be in the city of Des Moines, Iowa?

And then, he smiled. There was that ever-present dimple on his cheek. He was my first kiss. I grabbed him by the back of the head and kissed him again, passionately, knowing that he would be my last first kiss.

I squeezed him tightly, and said, “You’re the first boy I ever kissed.” He asked, “Wait- what is your name?” “Sheryl.” “Sheryl Sundberg? Where have you been all of my life?” “Well, I got married, had three kids, got divorced, and now I’m standing at the Iowa State Fair- talking to you.” “You’ve got three kids?” he remarked unbelievably. “I can’t wait to meet them!”

Jeremiah and I have been together ever since that night. We were boyfriend and girlfriend in grade school, but lost touch because my family moved. We will celebrate our three-year wedding anniversary this June and are working on adding to our family of five.

-- Sheryl from Pleasant Hill, Iowa

Just an Old Fashioned Love Song

I met my husband over the radio. I was on break at work and called to request a song. The DJ asked what I was getting my guy for Men's Day and I stated that I was single. I told him what company I worked for and said my goodbye. A few minutes later, my phone rang. I answered and the voice on the other end said, "Hi, you don't know me. My name is Paul. I heard your voice over the radio and I just had to find you." There was something about his voice that captivated me. We met that night and married 5 months later. That was February 17, 1994-my new Valentine's Day.

-- Jocelyn from Chicago, Ill.

Worth the Wait

I met Lynn when I was 18 at a bar in Harpersfield, Ohio. He bought me a drink. After a few months of dating, we went our different ways. I went to college and he went to Texas for a job. 16 years later he saw me at a festival in Geneva, Ohio and asked me out. But it took him almost three months to get the guts up to get a date. In January we went out and by Valentines Day he asked me to marry him. He was so tongue-tied all he could say was, "Marry me!" We have been married now 11 years and we have a 5-year-old daughter. He was well worth the wait.

-- Karen from Geneva

More Than Golden

My mother and father were married on Valentines Day 60 years ago! They were only 16 and 19 years old at the time, and were married by a justice of the peace because my Dad was being sent by the Army to fight in the war. They are still to this day each other's soul mate and love each other more with each passing day. They are in great health and keep each other young at heart! The fact they have been together for 60 years is amazing and that they still care and love each other so deeply is so special. They are a shining example of what true love really is!

-- Donna from Chelmsford, Mass.

Love Knows No Bounds

In June 1994 I placed a personal ad in a Tulsa newspaper. The ad ran for about two weeks, but brought only one reply. The response was from Carla, a girl living in Muskogee. We talked and agreed to see each other. I was residing in Bartlesville, so we decided to meet in Tulsa, about halfway between our hometowns.

A few days before our date I decided to call it off. To me the ninety miles separating Bartlesville and Muskogee was too far, and I did not want a "long distance" relationship. I called Carla and she sounded disappointed. After some convincing I agreed to meet her as planned.

To make a long story short, Carla and I will celebrate our thirteenth wedding anniversary this June. I am not sure if I believe in Fate, but I have often wondered why only Carla answered my ad. Also, I hate thinking how different our lives would have been had I succeeded in breaking our date.

-- Jon from Oklahoma City, Okla.

Car Tricks

We met via a blind date. We agreed to join mutual friends at a Phil Collins concert 15 years ago. We all hung out on the lawn at the Tweeter Center. I knew I liked him when he spent more time keeping his friends' kids happy than trying to impress me.

Also, after the show, I joked that we couldn't date if he couldn't ride in my car. He tried to impress me by jumping into my car while we waited in traffic to leave. The kicker was -- I had a very small Hyundia and he is 6 feet 7 inches tall and resembles a linebacker. He managed to jam himself in my car by popping the sunroof and laying the seat flat. It took four of his friends to pull him back out. I figured any man willing to put his body through that much pain just to get in my car was the one for me.

He later told me that he spent a week out of work because he pulled many muscles in his back, neck, and legs, but he ended the story with "it was all worth it." I bought a bigger car and we have been together ever since.

-- Leigh from Bellingham, Mass.

Small, Small World

Tom and I were set up to meet each other by a mutual friend who thought that we would be great together. Little did she know, or did we, that we first met each when I was one and he was 6! Tom and my brother were friends! And it doesn't stop there. His father was my childhood pediatrician! Not only that, my best friend was a waitress were he was a chef and I had seen him multiple times! It was all too funny to us.

After our first date, that was it! We moved in, got married, and two kids and 10 years later, here we are. So extremely happy and in love.

-- Stacy from Weare, N.H.

Amazing

Russell and I met at a time when fate seemed to step in. We both had recently gotten out of bad relationships and looking for someone to love. My dad was working with Russell. He thought we would be a good match for each other and encouraged us to start at least communicating. We were both hesitant at first, but eventually Russell got up enough courage to ask me out on a date to the state fair.

The date started off like any other typical first date -- awkward silences, long pauses in conversations. So it had to take something really big to break that awkwardness. When it got dark and the Lonestar concert was wrapping up, we decided to take a seat by a big fountain. Lonestar's last song was "Amazed," and in the last minute or so, Russell leaned in and asked for a kiss. And that was that. Six months later, we're still going stong. ("Amazed" is now "our" song.)

-- Taryn from Sacramento, Calif.

Telephone Romance

In 1996, my sister and I were at an event when this guy had tried to talk to her. She gave him the wrong number off by one. Well, the next night his friend had called, I picked up and I guess we started flirting with each other. We talked on the phone for three years without seeing each other. When we finally saw each other, we did like each other, but it only worked out for six months. He came back to me a year later, and we started our relationship all over again. We have been together now seven years. We have a 3-year-old daughter, and we are finally going to get married in September our eight-year anniversary.

-- Danika from Kansas City, Mo.

Perfect Timing

Beth and I both attended a two-week workshop. We knew each other in the past and also knew that each one was going through a divorce. We spoke several times during the week and also we made opportunities to talk to one another, but I did not ask her out. Then on the Saturday following the workshop, we ran into one another at a restaurant on a late Saturday afternoon during the Arts Festival. It was a very hot day. She and her friend, Ann, had stopped in for a drink. I also stopped in for a drink because I knew the bartender. We talked for a long time, and they said that Ann's husband Mike was joining them for supper. I informed them that I already had tickets for the "America" concert at Harrah's. I invited Beth along and Ann insisted that she go.

We spent the whole concert talking and at one point were told to be quiet. At the end of that night, I asked her if she wanted to go to a baseball game the next day. We did! I also went grocery shopping with her that day! We were married on Feb. 21, 1998. In addition to my two daughters from a previous marriage and Beth's three from hers, we have Matthew. He is now a third-grader. Beth was truly the miracle that came into my life, and it has been almost 12 years since we first began seeing one another. I am truly blessed to have such a beautiful person by my side!

-- Teb from Valley, Neb.

Perfect Gentleman

In a world of men who no longer opening a doors for ladies, and "halla" rather then a normal intoduction, I was lucky to find the love of me life. I was walking to class one day when he came up to me and said, "Hello, I've seen you around and wanted to say hello." I feel so lucky to have found the love of my life. The best part is that he stole my heart by being a gentleman.

-- Dawn from Albuquerque