-- and Married
The minute I walked into the cafeteria, I could feel that someone was watching me. I was determined not to look, but it made me very nervous, and I accidentally dropped a coin on the floor when trying to put it in the machine.
As I stooped to pick it up, more coins fell out of my open coin purse. I scrambled after them, but one rolled under the machine. By this time I was feeling very self-conscious, but I didn't want to lose a quarter under that machine. On my hands and knees, I had to put my face on the floor to see under the machine. I could see my coin, but could not fit my hand in to retrieve it. Feeling foolish, I got my soda, and joined my classmates.
After a few minutes, I decided I really did want to get my coin out, so I would try again. On my hands and knees, with my face on the floor, and my butt in the air (of course), I could feel someone watching me again. This time I just had to look to see who it was. As I turned my head, I looked into the warm eyes of a young man sitting at a table about fifteen feet away. He smiled and said, "Would you like some help?"
Now I was thinking: "If you want to put your butt in the air like mine, and make a fool of yourself too, then fine." So I said: "Sure". He jumped up, and hurried over, to see if he could get his hand under the machine; but his hands are of course bigger than mine, and he could not reach the coin either. Still on hands and knees, he looked up at me, and said "Hi, my name is Truman," and he extended his hand. Not knowing what else to do, I shook it, and told him my name was Abby.
Then he asked a man still sitting at the table for a small brush to help us retrieve the coin. He swept the coin out, and handed it to me. I was so surprised to see that it was only a penny!!!! Feeling really stupid by this time, I offered it to him. He said, "No, it is yours, keep it."
Then he asked me if I was single, and I said "Yes. Are you?" He answered yes; then he asked me for a date. And I said, "Yes."
I had to rush back to class, but agreed to meet him after class ended, to make arrangements for our date. When I got out of class, I peeked through a window that looked down into the cafeteria from the second floor. He saw me right away and waved. He was waiting for me.
It turned out that he was recovering from leg surgery he'd had a month before. As he was on disability, and feeling a bit lonely, he had come to see his Dad, who worked evenings as a janitor at this college, during his Dad's supper break -- I think it was an excuse to scope out the girls, too!! -- but that was fine with me!
We set up a time and place for our date. He wanted to take me out then and there, but I really had to get home and to bed, because I had to be at work very early the next morning. We had our date a few days later, and another one, and another one.....
At one point, he told me that he knew I was the girl he wanted to marry the minute he laid eyes on me. It took me much longer to be sure that I felt that way about him. But we did get engaged 3 1/2 months later, on Valentines Day, 1996; and 3 1/2 months after that we were married!
It may have been only a penny that put us together, but it sure was a lucky one!
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Later, we mailed out announcement/ invitations, saying that we were married, and our families were invited to our reception which would be held at a later date---August 31st.
As we were married on a Friday, we took the weekend to do a little sight-seeing. We both returned to work on Monday.
Our reception was held three months later, on August 31, 1996, in our front yard. Our parents and other relatives came; and we took pictures, had a picnic, and opened gifts with everyone watching.
The following week we took off for our honeymoon. We stayed most nights in our home, but we took day-trips to Boston, Maine, and northern New Hampshire. One night we went camping near the ocean. It was a lot of fun!
