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One day in late November, I arrived at Kirk's suburban Minneapolis apartment around suppertime, following a four-hour car ride from my home in central Wisconsin. We'd barely begun dating at this point, and this was my first trip to Minnesota to visit.
I was greeted at the door with a smile and the wonderful smell of chili cooking on the stove. Kirk gave me a silly grin and told me we were "going out for dinner." Then Kirk packed things up and brought out a load of heavy winter clothing, telling me I'd better bundle up since "going out for dinner" can be pretty chilly in November in Minnesota.
We drove to a nearby park, where we trudged through the snow, lit a fire with some wood we'd brought, sat down on some blankets, ate a wonderful meal, and topped it off with roasted marshmallows and great conversation! I was swept off my feet, and four months later we became engaged!
-Charlene Rotvold, Minnesota
Cleaning Up Her ActBrian and I chose to commemorate our switch from friends to dating couple with dinner at a local restaurant. After a filling meal, we drove forty-five minutes to an observatory in Chicago. But within five minutes of our arrival, I started feeling queasy. So I suggested Brian drive me back home. As he was speeding down the interstate, I threw up all over myself and my car.
Brian maintained his composure, suppressed any exclamations of "Oh, gross!", and directed us to a nearby hospital, where I washed up as best I could while Brian voluntarily cleaned my car. Then he took me home, dashed to a twenty-four-hour grocery store for medicine and ginger ale, and came back to my house to check on me. It could have been the most mortifying evening of my entire life, except that Brian remained unfazed through the entire fiasco, displaying only kindness and concern for me.
-Helen Lee, Illinois
Room with a ViewThree months before our wedding, my fiance took me on a "mystery" date. He blindfolded me, then drove to our destination: our soon-to-be home (an old apartment building that was being renovated). Once the blindfold was removed and I realized where we were, he recited a sweet poem he had written about what our life would be like together. He took me into our apartment where—amidst the dust and dirt—we danced in the dark (there was no electricity yet!). Then we sat out on our tiny third-floor deck and gazed at the stars and shared our dreams. I soon realized how wonderful being the wife of this godly, creative man would be!
-Jill Reed, Kentucky
Tough Break!During my medical residency, I worked two months at a local hospital. One day after work, a fellow physician I'd been getting to know asked me to go play basketball with him. After a game of one-on-one, which I unfortunately lost by a narrow margin, I stepped off to the sidelines to catch my breath. My opponent showed off his athletic prowess by attempting to dunk the ball a few times.
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