Hours Before Meeting Brian

735 W. Green Street, Hastings, Mi

Hours before meeting Brian on Republic Airlines flight 77 'wine-tasting-flight' to Seattle in 1984. It was an icy cold day and the flight was delayed in Minneapolis for the one remaining seat on the flight to be filled. When the guy finally boarded, complete with beard, backpack, Momo poster, and a child, I knew the moment I saw him, standing at the front of the plane in the aisle, that he was my future husband.

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I can tell you exactly what he was wearing because it was etched in my mind forever - a brown tweed sport coat, red plaid shirt (LLBean), blue jeans and tennis shoes. His seat was next to me - and I talked the whole 4 hours and have never stopped. I told him I was going to get a nose ring - he said maybe that wouldn't be such a good idea. I told him about my trips to Alaska. He said he wanted to go. I told him I was already getting wrinkles. He said I wasn't. I told him I wouldn't give him my address or phone (because I was sick of the dating scene) but I kissed him goodbye.

Weeks later, he found an address (yellow pages and a map) to an Italian restaurant in Seattle that he thought I might work at, and sent a letter there, hoping to find me. He got it right and I wrote back and we started corresponding by mail.

Three months later we met again in person. He thought I was too young and I thought he was too short. But we resolved that and continued to mail each other for the next six months. 

We cemented our partnership that summer bicycling across the USA together. My strategy was - if we could survive a trip like that together - we could survive in marriage.

He beat me in all ways; he had more stamina, more strength, and could make me laugh so hard when the going got tough that I would fall off my bicycle. But he wore those ridiculous mirror sunglasses so even if the going got tough for him, I could never tell. 

By the way, those of you that know 80's hairstyles - notice the slightly spiked hairdo with a six inch tail down my back. Also, that is Anna in the back and Barb driving me to the airport in Grand Rapids, Michigan. 

One more thing - if it wasn't for my dad insisting I come home that Christmas and buying my round trip ticket because I couldn't afford it - I would never have met Brian. Thanks Dad, Brian, family and all auspicious happenings!