Courtship tales from our readers

My husband and I met through an ad I had placed in a local, daily newspaper. A friend had met and married her husband through this section of the paper, so I thought I'd give it a whirl. My future husband responded to my ad titled "Sci-fi Fan" because I was the only "non-smoker and non-drinker with a good heart and morals" he'd ever seen.

What a courtship! He "wined and dined" me with Pepsi and Sprite, and sent me flowers, balloons, and funny cards "from your favorite Martian." I was hooked! We married two-and-a-half years later with my "Sci-fi Fan ad" printed on a shower invitation. Not so bad for a woman from Venus, eh?

Leslie and Alan Holmberg

Belle Plaine, MN

I first met the love of my life while we were enrolled in a computer class in high school. According to her, she knew I was the one for her the minute I walked in the door. I, however, had no such premonition and was only interested in becoming part of the decoration at the back of the class. I was shy to the extreme.

However, it appears as though fate, the universe, or whatever, was working for me this time - and working very hard at that.

When I realized that I had already taken the same class, I went to cancel. Instead, I wound up becoming the teacher's aide. As the class progressed, there was one girl who always seemed to have more problems with her programs than anyone else. I would find her mistakes and help her correct them. I had no idea that I was being quietly manipulated - she was only pretending that she couldn't program.

Once, we accidentally met in the hall between classes and she said "Hi, Kyle" to me. I looked at her, then looked around me to see whom she was talking to. When I looked back at her I found that she was still looking at me and smiling. I decided that it was best if I just put my head down, kept walking, and pretended the whole thing never happened.

The prom was our first real "date" together. Before that, our relationship survived on being together before or after school. Her grandparents, whom she was living with during this time, refused to let her out on a regular date, so she would call me when she went out to a movie or the park with her friends and I would find a way to meet her there.

Today, despite the myriad obstacles thrown in our path, we are happily married and cherish every available moment we can spend together.

Kyle Ginney

Las Vegas, NV

I was a trek guide, she was a client - in fact it was the last commercial trek I ever led. We spent 28 days walking across western Nepal, and spent a lot of time talking on the trail. I had an old-fashioned rule - after seeing some disasters - that I would not dally with clients. So we joined in the life of a dozen Americans and three dozen Nepali's walking across the Himalaya.

I have always claimed it was the aphrodisiac properties of a rare Himalayan insect that grows on the bottoms of rhododendron leaves up on Jaljala Pass that prompted me to kiss her the first time. Shortly after we came upon the creatures we kissed. We are both certain that we got to know more about one another in those 28 days of walking than most people learn in a year of dates.

Sixty days after meeting on the trek she gave up her job in Santa Rosa and moved to Kathmandu. Eleven years later we are still married and still amuse strangers with the tale of how we first met.

Thomas Laird

Kathmandu, Nepal

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