Wednesday, June 3, 2015

TWENTY Years?

Twenty years... hmmmmm can you believe that on June 2, 1995 a certain Steve and a certain Karen had their FIRST DATE?????

Yup... we sure did!  A mutual friend exchanged our phone numbers a few months before... we had some nice phone conversations and finally decided to get together for a real DATE! You know, to see each other in person.  I was a busy working single mom, managing the jobs of advertising editor and handling all of the listings at the real estate office, plus selling real estate myself. I was raising two girls ages 10 and 12. I didn't have much time to date, so this was kinda special.

In between real estate house showings, I scheduled in some time for this guy. I had a short time between an open house and later a private home showing.  So I agreed to meet Steve in a public place.  He had an hour and a half to prove his stuff....  or I was gone!

We chose to meet up at a little ice cream shop called Hansen's on Gray St in Green Bay.  I liked what I saw----  a tall handsome guy who was polite but nervous.  He must have liked what he saw, because he stayed. LOL!!!

The ice cream shop had a promotional event going on featuring Stewart's Root Beer and they were serving root beer floats in amber colored mason jars.  I let him order one for me, and we sat and visited for the next hour and a half.  He showed me pics of his boys, ages 11 and 12 and talked about all of the fun stuff he enjoyed doing with them. He was one of those rare guys who didn't regret paying his child support, because he knew the boys needed it.  He didn't mind paying the extra mortgage for the roof over their heads or the taxes on their home so they could feel secure and stay in the same home, and at the same schools after the divorce which happened 2 years prior. He did what was best for the boys,  even if it meant that he didn't have much money to his name afterwards.  His boys were top priority and he was a good dad.

He won me over.

We kept the mason jars......

On our wedding day, two years later, 
(while dressed in our wedding clothes....) 
we took those same jars back to Hansen's
 and had them refill the jars with 
root beer floats. 


and tonight after supper, we refilled them again! 

 (this is our cutting board with our wedding date engraved into it,
a gift from our daughter and her fiance for Christmas) 


We sat out on the front porch this evening, 
sipping our root beer floats 
and talking about the twists and turns that our lives have taken
over the course of twenty years. 


Here is how we looked 
twenty years ago when we first started dating:


As we chatted though the evening, the doggers were NOT impressed and soon dozed off.  I guess that our memories and reminiscing didn't include them, so they didn't care.



 I am not sure if you readers really care either.  
But I thought I would write about it anyhow. 

The best decision I made twenty years ago,
was to go have a root beer float! 



17 comments:

  1. Wonderful story and first meeting, so glad you went, I'll think of you the next time I have a root beer float (love them)!!! Hugs, sure miss you guys!

    Mary

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  2. Wonderful story and first meeting, so glad you went, I'll think of you the next time I have a root beer float (love them)!!! Hugs, sure miss you guys!

    Mary

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  3. Crikey ...... Mum cares ... I'm with the doggers ...... I couldn't care less!! But that root beer stuff looks a lot like icecream and I love icecream so maybe I care a bit. Mum wants to know what root beer is. We have ginger beer with icecream in it. Is that what root beer is?? If so it's good stuff and just maybe with enough of those under your belt twenty years would go by real quick, aye?? Only jokin'!! Sounds like you two got a match made in heaven, aye?? Well done!!

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    1. I googled if root beer was similar to your ginger beer down under... guess google says no. hmmmm i do know daughter had drinks last weekend called a Moscow Mule that has vodka, lime juice, ginger beer served in a copper mug.

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  4. Sometimes it takes a second chance to get it right. Blessings to both of you.

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  5. I liked the story, but I was waiting to hear what happened next? Did you two make a second date before the hour and half was up? He sounds like he was a great dad and I can understand why you fell for him, especially with you being a single mom yourself. Waiting for part two......

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    Replies
    1. here is a blog post that I made a while back about what happened before our second date and what I bought for him.you have to scroll down to the lower portion of the blog to find out.

      http://kareninthewoods-kareninthewoods.blogspot.com/2013/02/all-worlds-stage-and-so-is-our.html?m=1

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  6. I love your story! You guys have been married just a little less time than Mike and me--we will celebrate 21 in October.

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    1. Yup.. you got a few more years on us... we met in 95 but didnt marry till 97.. so you are ahead! LOL

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  7. Congratulations to you and Steve. I am sure you both got a real bargain and a very, very special soul mate. My wife and I started dating in school before I was old enough to drive and after a few years of college, we got married. That was over 50 years ago. I am sure you and Steve will make it to your golden wedding anniversary, too.

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  8. Great story. Many of us have odd starts, everyday times that turned into a begining. Happy Trails for another thirty! (we hit 50 this January! Good days slip by quickly.

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  9. How neat is it that you still have those Stewart's glasses. Now I want a root beer float. Think it's okay to have one for breakfast???

    Congratulations on another milestone!

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  10. How cute that you saved those root beer mugs. Such a "sweet" story! :c)

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  11. I like those stories. I wrote one recently of the 50th anniversary of the day Dave & I met. I suspect you two will make it that long as well.

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  12. It's a very sweet story, and you are both just as cute as you were 20 years ago!

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