"Some Enchanted Evening" Submissions
Set 9

"Some Enchanted Evening" Home

The moment I laid eyes on her I knew I wanted to "move" her! Within seconds of meeting one another we were both sweating like we'd never sweat before.

Perhaps it was the chemistry between us. Perhaps it stemmed from the fact that she was a pretty young filly and I was a young buck. Or maybe — just maybe — we were sweating because it was a sultry 103 degree day in June of 1977 and she had hired me to move her from Little Canada to Wausau, Wisconsin. Moving is a "hot" job. She was a teacher at St. Paul Technical Vocational Institute. I was a truck driver working for Mayflower Moving Company in Maplewood. She was taking a job in Wausau and I was the lucky moving man. After my helper and me had a tour of her little apartment, I told Dave that I wanted to marry that girl. I'd said that about lots of other pretty customers before, but this time it had a ring of possibility to it. So we loaded her furniture and made arrangements to meet her in Wausau the next morning for delivery.

Dave had intended to go with me and help, but cancelled at the last second, leaving me to head for Wausau by myself. Diane Currie had a girlfriend with her the next morning. I decided that between the three of us we could get her furniture moved in without breaking it into too many pieces. After that, I could go to work on "moving" her! The furniture cooperated and so did the girls.

I offered to take them to dinner in exchange for their help with the furniture. We went to Mr. Steak and had a lovely time. After dinner we went back to her new home and sang songs around her piano 'til the wee hours of the morning.

Then I left, hoping that I'd "moved" her enough to be allowed to see her again. Unfortunately, many efforts towards this end were to prove unsuccessful over the next 10 months. Fortunately, though, we carried on a very cordial correspondence via the United States Postal Service.

Then, approximately a year later, I received a letter from Diane asking if I would be interested in moving her again — back to the Twin Cities. Which I did. After she returned, we dated for six months and then got married. Apparently, I had "moved" her in more ways than one.

And we lived happily ever after. The End.

Lowell Richardson
Lowell's story was chosen to be retold at the live show in Worthington, Minnesota, on Friday, February 14, 2003. Read the script.

We had our first date on March 3, 2001. Six weeks later we were engaged. Here's how we met...again!

We were both registered on an internet matching service called Match.com. I thought his profile sounded interesting so I sent him an anonymous e-mail which he answered.

During the course of several more anonymous e-mails where we knew only each other's first names, we slowly revealed more information about ourselves.

I shared that I was from a family of seven girls. He shared that he had lived in the Twin Cities area all his life. I answered that I had, too. I told him that I grew up in Highland Park, went to St. Therese grade school and Highland Park High School.

He answered that he had also gone to St. Therese grade school! Before I could answer that e-mail he corresponded again that he had called his younger sister and asked if she could think of any families in St. Therese parish with seven girls. He said they thought they knew who I was if I had grown up on Graham Avenue.

Oh my gosh! I responded that yes, I had grown up on Graham Avenue. I was one of the Brom girls! And I was dying to know who he was.

He answered with, "Hi Carol. I'm Don Stanton. We grew up across the street from each other."

And we had! Directly across the street from each other! 40 years ago we played together as children. He was two years older than I, the same age as my older sister. He was (and still is) very quiet and extremely good-looking. He joined the Navy right out of high school when he was 17 and I was 15 and not even dating yet, as if he would have even known I existed! We hadn't seen each other since.

Our parents were good friends and kept in touch even after his parents moved from the neighborhood. Our siblings know each other. All our family members are thrilled for us.

Now we're planning our wedding. I've heard so many songs on the morning show that I want to incorporate into the ceremony and I thank Dale and the other staff at MPR for answering my questions about artists and CDs. Perhaps our guests will hear selections from Chuck Pyle, Connie Kaldor and Jean Redpath, among others!


Carol Zick
Carol's story was chosen to be retold at the live show in Worthington, Minnesota, on Friday, February 14, 2003. Read the script.

My name is Bill. I'd like to tell you about an event that was no small miracle. I met my wife at a church I was attending for fellowship and youth choir and drama. I came driving in with my pick-up and I guess that was it. Sheri had a crush on me. I, being a guy, had no clue. I thought, 'Nobody cares about me. I'm not from around here or a member of this church.' Well thank God my Sheri did care. One day she wrapped her ankle behind my leg around during a service. I thought this was great, except, I was seeing someone else. It wouldn't work out at that time.

A short while later, I was available again. So when Sheri came up to me in the commons area and asked me, "So when are you going to ask me out." she said my mouth dropped open and she didn't think I'd ever talk to her again . Good thing I'm not completely clueless! I called her and we went out on a date. We went to Orchestra Hall for a Christmas Concert. On the way back home I drove down a one-way the wrong way; and when I put my hand on her knee, I drove through a red light. No car accident, no one hurt, another miracle. Anyways that's how we met. We got married when I was 19 and Sheri was 20. Sheri was pregnant at 21 with our son and then we had two more girls. I have loved my wife from day one and our love grows stronger every day. We've shared 16 happy years together and that's not bad out of 21. HaHa! I'll love you always, my dear. It is a miracle to me that I have you. Love you forever.

Bill Dvorak, Bloomington, MN

A year after my brother's death, my singing career was still threatened by chronic sore throat (uncried tears). My salvation, my guitar-toting knight in shining armor, came in the form of a young man with a gorgeous bass voice recently transplanted to Boston from California.

He joined my chorus to look for girls. We eyed each other from the bass and soprano sections. Then I invited him over to my apartment on Sparks Street. At the time he was living on Powderhouse Boulevard...KABOOM!

Two gorgeous grown sons, many CDs and many adventures later, we still tour throughout this country and Europe as the music duo LiveOak.

Nancy Knowles, Antrim, NH

Having been married for 15 years, I moved to the cities from a small western Minnesota town to start a new life with my children and to get a divorce. I worked for 3 yrs and took care of my children and my dad. I went to sleep at 7:01pm on Friday night, went grocery shopping on Saturday, and church on Sunday. That was the extent of my social life. Of course, I did many fun activities with the kids that didn't cost a lot of money.

Then I got a postcard in the mail from "Great Expectations", a dating service in the Edina/Bloomington area. I sent it back and got an immediate response. They wanted to see me. I did a video about myself, my likes and dislikes. Then I had pictures made of myself and wrote a bio of me to put into a booklet so all the gorgeous men could read about me! The video was on file for them to check out also. The women could view the men in the same way, using their first names only. I could go look at every male starting with A & go through Z. I started at the A's, looking at their bios and videos. I got to the D's and found lots. I was dating 7 guys, 3 who were Don's but all spelled differently. (Donn, Don, & Donald) I narrowed the guys down to 5 with my kids help. (They were 4th & 7th grade by now) Then I got the count down to 3. (I had to alternate weekends but had a blast) We went hot tubbing, The Renaissance, The State Fair, dinners, lunches, flowers, etc. It was fun, fun, fun but I was tired a lot. By the time I got to Donn, it was the 3rd weekend and I would fall asleep on the way home. He didn't seem to mind. He always took the long way home so as not to disturb my nap. He was and still is very patient with my kids & they seemed to like him the best. I always checked everyone out with them also. We were a package deal that I always let the guys know right from the start. Well, Donn with 2 n's took me and the kids out a lot and then in December, (we started dating in August) he took just me out to dinner and asked me to marry him. I said I would have to give up the other 2 if I did that. (Just kidding) Kids loved him as I did, so I said yes. We were "Great Expectations" first success story. We got married on Valentine's Day so he would never forget. We have been married now for 15 years coming up.

Vicki Granros, Elk River, MN

I met the love of my life tobogganing about 4 miles south of Worthington. We survived being high school sweethearts, then living apart while she was at Rochester in nurses training and I was at St. John's.

Fast forward to a job for me with NSP in Monticello, where a goofy radio show helped get me to work each day. Donna routinely gave me a hard time about the radio show, [saying] "the only people that listen to it are at least 50 years old!" Fast forward to when Donna is a nurse with Walker, taking care of Pa Poole, and having to be a little more careful about her criticism of who listens to the show. When she left Walker 5 years ago, Jim Ed was nice enough to play a request for her, and consistent with the timeliness of actions on the show, this big "Thank You" arrives 5 years later. The request was "You are my sunshine", which was the song I sang to our 3rd child every night at bedtime for a good 10 years, and I believe a favorite of Pa Poole's also. Now the best part, by Valentine's Day, guess who will have turned 50!

John Windschill, Maple Grove, MN

In 1990 I was mayor of my home town, Toccoa, Georgia, located some 80 miles N. E. of Atlanta. I received a call one day from a lady who had a wonderful story. During WWII, her Jewish family escaped Nazi Germany and was on a train headed to New York that was coming thru Toccoa. Her mother was pregnant with her and they were forced to get off the train for her to be delivered. She was taken in by community families and continued on their journey some two weeks later. She called to tell me she had never visited her birthplace of Toccoa. She had never accomplished anything in her life but before she died, she wanted to see the home of her birth. I didn't think she would come but I sent her a nice letter and an honorary citizenship certificate. Some 6 months later, my phone rang and here she was! I invited her to our Country Club for a drink (down here we call it the "country country club") We met, she was pleasant. A woman of about my age. She went on to tell me the honorary certificate was the most wonderful thing that ever happened to her, and how she paid to have a copy put in her local paper. She mounted it on a piece of lacquered wood and put in her office. Tears came to her eyes. My 11 year-old daughter Claire came in and sat down with us and asked for a Coke. After hearing the lady's story, my daughter said, "Oh, shoot, lady, daddy's given one of those things to every bartender in Atlanta." She took it in good spirits but I'll be careful in the future who I give certificates to. I was already married but if I weren't, she would be living in Toccoa Georgia today.

Randy Murray, Toccoa, GA

My husband and I met at a Halloween party. I showed up as the only person there in a costume! Rather embarrassing since I went with a friend of a friend and knew no one else at the party. Fortunately, I looked rather glamorous since I was dressed as Cleopatra.

Anne, MN

In December of 1988, my sister invited me to accompany her to a Christmas party hosted by her church. As we sat down for dinner, a stranger sat next to me. He was a handsome guy, and we enjoyed sharing conversation, and flirting with each other a little bit. In January, he called to ask me out for the first time. We had a great time, and continued to see each other every chance we got. In February we got engaged, and got married in September, 1989. We grow more in love with each other with every year that goes by!

Karen, MN

My husband was the coach of a company-sponsored softball team. We met at a pizza restaurant after one of the first games of the season. It turned out that this restaurant offered winning softball teams a free pizza, but the loser received a free pitcher of beer. This must have been a losing night for their team because you wouldn't have wanted the pizza even if it was free...we remember the pizza that night as the worst we've ever had! But pizza remained a theme in our lives. For our first date we went out for pizza, my husband proposed over a Canadian Bacon and Pineapple pizza, we decided which apartment we would first rent together over pizza. We soon found that any serious decision necessitated a pizza! Today, several inter-state/cross-country moves, three children, and many many decisions later we have enjoyed 18 years of sharing life, love, laughter...and of course, pizza!

Name Withheld, MN

My husband and I actually met in a supermarket, Lund's on 66th and Penn to be exact. I lived in Hopkins at the time and worked as a TA at the University of Minnesota and a book buyer at Toyworks in Butler Square. It was tough making ends meet and the life of an academic was wearing on me, so I bopped into Lund's on Lake Street on the way home to apply for a cashier's job. I'd never done anything like it before (and was soon to find out that I wasn't very good at it). Well, my Uptown application resulted in a Richfield job for this Hopkins resident. The first night on my job, encased in a navy blue polyester pantsuit (not my choice), the cashier at the register next to me leaned over during a slow moment and asked in a velvety, deep voice, "So, what's your sign?" Really! Giving him a legitimate excuse, he was reading up on astrology and trying to spot certain types. With me, he wasn't even close. I continue to be his woman of mystery--it's best that way. The day after I met him, I walked into my professor's office at the U and announced that I had met the man I was going to marry. That night, my very dignified professor and three other TAs came trouping through my one-day-to-be-husband's line to see if I'd lost my mind. On the contrary, they couldn't wait for the wedding invitation. Well, it took three years of on-again, off-again contemplation, but we finally walked down the aisle. We had hoped to make it a supermarket aisle, but my mother would have none of that. Twenty-two years later, we feel we're pretty good at picking out top-quality, name brands at the supermarket.

Name Withheld, MN

Initially, we met in high school. We were lab partners in Mrs. Richardson's Advanced Biology class senior year. He was the one person I could talk to about anything with and he felt the same way about me. After high school we went our separate ways, married other people, had families, yet we never forgot about each other.

Our thirtieth high school reunion was in 2001. Early in February, 2001, bored at work, I clicked on an ad for classmates.com and looked for his name. I was disappointed when I didn't find him, but entered my information. Imagine my surprise when I received an e-mail a few months later "So how have the last thirty years been?" We began to correspond via e-mail, and then talk by phone. To me, the most remarkable thing is that when we got together our friendship was just the same as it had been so many years before — except now we are grown-up.

Both readers and writers, conference speakers and researchers — we still share our love of science and technology. He calls me his "Bond Girl". As in Bond, James Bond. He says that "Bond Girls" are intelligent, adventurous, beautiful, and have cool high-tech toys. The desire to be on the cutting edge of technology in grad school had an unforeseen benefit. Not only did I meet my love again, I became his "Bond Girl."

Name Withheld, Minneapolis, MN

I need to clarify that this is not your typical love story between two people. I was listening to the classical music around 1:00pm on January 29th, 2003. I had no idea what was playing, but I was enjoying it. I decided to eat lunch and so I ate three little clementines. Right after I finished the music ended and the announcer said it was called "The Love for Three Oranges Suite" (I think it was by Carl Dutua). I was so struck by this coincidence that I couldn't stop laughing! I just had to share this with you so I went to your website and noticed that you are requesting people's love stories. I think this qualifies as a love story, don't you? I knew music had an influence but I never imagined it would be directing my life! You better be careful what you play over there!

Barbara Scherek Jr., Annandale, MN

"Some Enchanted Evening" Home

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