I was a 37-year-old, never-married, single mother living in a tiny fish house-sized home, recovering from several bad choices, waiting for my knight in shining armor to rescue me.
The true love story began when the puzzle pieces starting fitting together and I found a gem of a home and gave it my all setting up a home that I loved. I was proud of my accomplishment and decided I did not want to share my home with anyone other than my daughter. I no longer needed to be rescued -- I had found myself.
When reading the Pioneer Journal classifieds, I spotted an ad for a white 8-month old female snoodle (schnauzer-poodle) to be given away. My last dog was a white snoodle so I went to take a look. The lady said she didn't care if I took it or not because there was another party interested. Well, I decided to bring her home on a trial basis and my daughter named her "Angel."
In the meantime, I tried to play match-maker with one of my co-workers. My plan was to get to know "this guy" Dan and get him together with the co-worker. Another co-worker said I was stalking Dan. OK, I admit, I knew where he lived, where he worked, what he drove, where he went to lunch on certain days ... but I wasn't stalking him. To prove I wasn't a stalker, I gave Dan a call and asked him if we could meet. He knew who I was but declined because it was just prior to hunting season and he had guns to work on. After that he was going on a hunting trip. And the week after, his brother would be in town. No problem, call me later, if you are interested, I said.
The Friday after Thanksgiving I was at work and the receptionist told me there was someone up front to see me. I walked through the door and there he was, I was in shock and couldn't speak -- all I could do was smile. He explained he just stopped in to pay a bill and was wondering if he could give me a call. I nodded. He winked. I melted.
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Dan called the following Monday and we set a date for Friday night to go to a movie in Brainerd.
When he came to pick me up, Angel started barking. I told him, I just got her ... he finished the sentence ... from the newspaper. Yep, he was the "other party interested." He had just lost his dog and his sister saw the ad and called but she decided to wait until Dan got back from his hunting trip. When he called, someone else had already gotten the dog.
On our first date, we went to Brainerd and decided to wait for a later show so we walked around the mall. For me, I wasn't nervous because I was just getting to know him for my co-worker. And it was like we had been friends forever and found our paths ran parallel. We knew a lot of the same people and he is related to several. He is a cousin to my best friend's husband and has been in the shooting club with him for years.
Then we ventured over to Fleet Farm and strolled around. At the same time we noticed a handwritten sign, "Toilet seats are non-returnable." We looked at each other and smiled. We were definitely on the same page.
The second date, I had him over for dinner and he and my daughter hit it off. She was perfectly comfortable inviting "this guy" into our lives.
On the third date, I brought him to my parent's farm for a game night with my family and my best friend. Mom announced how much she had saved for my wedding. Dan smiled. My family approved and he didn't run off at the talk of marriage. I had found "Wadena's best kept secret."
After a year of dating, he proposed on Christmas and tells the story of how I opened the box and was distracted by how the little light turned on every time I opened it -- just like the refrigerator. He chuckles when he says it would have been cheaper to just get me the box.
The following October we had the perfect wedding I had dreamed about since I was 16.
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That was two years ago and we are 40-something newlyweds, yet it seems like we have known each other all our lives.
I say our marriage will last until "death do us part -- if I have to kill him first." (The kill him part is not a threat, it just means how serious our marriage vows are with the twist of humor.) And death may do us part but our love is eternal. Nobody is perfect but Dan is perfect for me. We say that we complete each other.
When I finally loved myself, put my heart into helping others, love found me with a little help from an "Angel."
