April 1971.
Only eighteen months into my nursing career and already burned out in short-staffed critical care. I applied for a job in an OB/GYN office, but the doctors hired another nurse with hospital OB experience.
In the meantime a young pharmaceutical sales representative announced his intentions to quit and return to graduate school, but his boss talked him out of it.
Only days after hire, the OB nurse discovered she was pregnant, and the doctors called to offer me the job.
Susan, one of the other nurses, told me about this cute “detail man.” The day he walked into the office, sample case in hand, my heart flip-flopped.
Our first conversation centered around the effectiveness of one contraceptive foam over another.
How romantic.
Susan did not like my current boyfriend, so she called Dennis into our workroom and strongly suggested he ask me out.
He claims he already intended to anyway.
Right.
Saturday, May 1, 1971. Our first date. A concert. The Philadelphia Orchestra.
He proposed three weeks later.
On his own. No help from Susan.
My doctors could hardly wait for the wedding. During the following six months, they tolerated my “spaciness.”
For instance, the lab often called to tell me I’d done it again–rubber banded a patient’s lab slip to the cardboard folder that encased the Pap smear slide that was also marked with the patient’s name. However, the name on the lab slip and the name on the slide didn’t match, and we had to call many patients back to have their exams repeated.
For free.
Susan, of course, served as my matron of honor. She still lights up with pride at her matchmaking skills.
And thirty-eight years later, my heart still flip-flops. We’ve since realized we actually grew up on the same “street”–U.S. 27, though nearly 200 miles apart. His parents ran the family farm while he rode horses, and my parents ran a small motel on a lake while I wished for a horse.
Coincidence? Or all orchestrated by a higher plan?
How did you meet? Do you have a fun pre-wedding memory? Can you look back and see God at work?
“But the plans of the LORD stand firm forever, the purposes of his heart through all generations.” Psalm 33:11
P.S. My horse’s name was Wendy.
Copyright © 2009 by Sandra Heska King
Love how God connected you to Dennis. Rejoicing w/ you in celebration of your 38th yr. of marriage. What a beautiful gift you are to each other:)
Happy Anniversary!!
Love,
Melinda
Thanks, Melinda! Love you back.
What a great love story! You first conversation cracked me up. 😀
Katie, you would have loved to see our garage–filled with samples of all kinds of family planning products! Oh, and one time when I visited his apartment, I was shocked to see a female mannikin–just the bottom half–on his kitchen table. He used to teach medical students how to insert diaphragms!