Being Valentine’s Day weekend, Randy has posed a Valentine-themed challenge for this week’s Saturday Night Genealogy Fun:

1) Tomorrow is Valentine’s Day.  Write about how you met the love of your life.  No fair picking “genealogy” as the  love!

I never would have met hubby Dave is it hadn’t been for my much more outgoing roommate, Ivette.

I moved to California from the East Coast over Labor Day weekend in 1978. How I met my roomie is another story altogether, but we quickly became friends.

Ivette was much more giggly and outgoing than I was and she loved to dance. I have two left feet.

I had planned to fly back east to spend the Christmas holidays with my family, but a few days before I left – a Tuesday to be exact – Ivette and her friend Denise convinced me that it would be a good idea to go into Los Angeles to a club.

We drove the 45 miles over there, only to discover that Ivette’s favorite club was CLOSED on Tuesdays. I can’t imagine Tuesday being a popular night for socializing.

We ended up at a Marie Callender’s restaurant and three guys were walking in the parking lot, heading in for some food.

Ivette yelled out the car window to them asking if they knew any good music places nearby that were open. They had been playing basketball and had no idea. Denise and I were both horrified that she was engaging in conversation with guys none of us knew and we were far from home.

One of the young men was Dave and he was with two friends. They invited us to enjoy a piece of Marie Callender’s famous pies with them. We figured a public restaurant was a safe enough place to be with 3 people none of us knew!

We all had an enjoyable evening getting to know each other. Dave asked for my phone number, which I did give to him. He was amazed to learn that we lived in Upland, east of West Covina. He thought life ended at the edge of Los Angeles County. 🙂

After I returned to California when the holidays were over, he called and we began dating in January. He proposed in March, we got married in June 1979 and we’ve been happily married for almost 42 years.

Happy Valentine’s Day Everyone!