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When Inge Rudolph and Dudley Donaldson were doubles partners on their company's tennis team back in the mid-1970s, they had no idea the word love ever would apply to anything other than their game. That their relationship would take a romantic turn 20 years later is one of God's surprise blessings. It's hard to believe this couple, who today sit hand-in-hand at their favorite Italian deli, lost contact with each other for 17 years. Here's the story of a romance that took two decades to unfold.
In 1976, Inge had just graduated from Northwestern College in Minneapolis, and worked as the receptionist of the school's radio station. Dudley worked in the station's production department when he and Inge first met. Over the next few years, Inge became friends with Dudley, his wife, Mavis, and their kids, Benjamin and Tatianna. They formed enough of a bond that when Inge went to Monte Carlo with Trans World Radio as a missionary in 1978, the Donaldsons supported her financially. She even stayed with them on occasion when she returned to the States on furlough.
But through the years, as Inge's mission work moved her all over the world, she lost touch with Dudley and his family. "Every now and then I'd wonder how they were doing," says Inge. "And on occasion," Dudley adds, "Mavis and I would say, 'I wonder whatever happened to Inge?'" But neither followed up on these questions.
Then, in 1994, Mavis Donaldson was diagnosed with ovarian cancer. After surgery and chemotherapy, Dudley and Mavis thought she'd beaten the dreaded c-word. But between Christmas and New Year's Eve, they learned her cancer had spread and a bone marrow transplant was needed.
By then the Donaldsons were living in Wisconsin, where Dudley worked for AT&T. Dudley and Mavis went to Loyola University Medical Center in the Chicago area for the transplant in March 1995. But by July, the cancer had returned.
"At that point, Mavis realized additional treatment would only prolong her suffering, so she prepared to die," says Dudley. Mavis passed away on November 15, 1995.
The strain of Mavis's long battle with illness and his grief over losing his wife took its toll on Dudley. "About a year after Mavis died, I suddenly realized something wasn't right with me," he says. "I couldn't get out of bed every morning, and I didn't feel like doing anything. It was awful." A friend convinced him to see a psychologist, who diagnosed Dudley with depression. With counseling and medication, Dudley started to bounce back. In an effort to create more balance in his life, Dudley started looking up old friends over the Internet. He decided to answer the question, Whatever happened to Inge Rudolph?
"When I typed in Inge's name, I found four listings in the U.S.," Dudley explains. When he tried phoning one in suburban Chicago, he recognized Inge's voice on the answering machine and left her a message. "I wasn't thinking about romance; I was just getting in touch with an old friend."
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