How They Met

A big THANK YOU to everyone who has posed questions in the last week or so! Keep them coming! WELCOME to the new friends who have just discovered Daffodil Hill! Nice to have you with us! : )

Charity said, "I'd love to know how your married children met. They seem so happy and mature in their relationships." This was the first question asked, and it's an easy one, so we'll begin with it...

Leigh and Neil met in college during the fall semester, 2001. She was a Teaching Assistant in the French Department while working on a Master's Degree in French. He was a new transfer student from another school in MS. Because he was taking a French class that semester, Neil decided to participate in the "French Table" discussions that were held over lunch each week. They noticed each other fairly quickly, but Neil was hesitant to ask Leigh out, thinking she must be older because she was a grad student. He, of course, had no way of knowing that she had graduated from our home school at age sixteen. There was actually very little difference in their ages.

As the semester progressed, we heard Leigh mention a young man who had come to her apartment for help with his French homework. Mama took notice because Mama always paid attention to any mention of young men, especially when they visited Leigh's apartment. ; ) There was no hint of any interest in Neil at that point. Simply talk of how much Neil liked Leigh's cat, Congo. I don't think she even mentioned his name.

Then on Valentine's Day, 2002, Mama stopped by Leigh's apartment to pick up some "happies" that Leigh had bought for the family. I was surprised to discover that Leigh was very enthusiastically preparing for a night out with Neil. Now Mama really paid attention! Leigh was not into dating, and had even worn a fake "engagement ring" to discourage the guys who often flirted with her. Sight unseen, I knew there had to be something special about this young man. I went home that night and told Papa that our son-in-law had just entered the picture.

A week later Leigh brought Neil to meet us as we were celebrating her birthday. We were impressed! He was quiet, mature, responsible, and the most considerate, respectful young man I'd ever met. He seemed a good match for our daughter who was all of those things as well. From that point on, there was no turning back. No one doubted that these two were meant for one another. At a basketball they attended with a group of friends, Neil was overheard saying, "It just keeps getting better and better".

Soon after we met Neil, our son Jonathan made the decision to join the Coast Guard. Neil was very supportive and quite a good sport as his new little girlfriend and her family cried and mourned Jonathan's departure for Basic Training. After Leigh completed her Master's Degree that May, we helped her move into a larger apartment. During that move, while they were working alone together at the old apartment, Neil asked Papa for Leigh's hand in marriage. Meanwhile, Leigh and Mama were working at the new apartment, waiting on pins and needles for news of that encounter. It was nerve-wracking, to say the least.

The happy couple decided to have an engagement ring designed to their own specifications. Having shown them some beautiful samples, the jeweler was quite surprised to hear Leigh ask, "Can we make it smaller?" NOT a question often heard from young brides! : ) When the ring was ready, unknown to Leigh, Neil slipped away to the out-of-town jeweler and picked up the ring. Before coming to our house for dinner that Tuesday evening as they always did, Neil asked Leigh to go to a special restaurant for appetizers. Totally unsuspecting, Leigh agreed. While they were eating, Neil handed his camera to their server and asked her to snap their picture, something he had done occasionally before. Then, right there in the restaurant, he knelt and asked Leigh to marry him. The surprised server was so excited that she could barely take the picture. : )

Later that evening, the two of them arrived at our house rather late for dinner. I'm not sure if we actually ate that night or not. We were all so excited about their engagement, and after snapping more pictures we began to call everyone and share the news. Our first call, of course, was to Jonathan who was in A School in Yorktown, VA. He got a little choked up because he wasn't here to share in our joy, but we made sure to send him pictures of the ring and of the glowing couple.

The wedding date was set for June 14, 2003, a full year after Neil's proposal. Let me tell you, a year is TOO long for an engagement! In retrospect, six months would have been much better. In this case, a shorter engagement would have made all the difference as Jonathan was killed three months before the wedding. But, hindsight is always 20/20, and a summer wedding seemed best at the time since Neil was still in school and Leigh was a first-year teacher in the public schools.

Despite the sadness and sense of loss we all felt over Jonathan's absence on the big day, it was a beautiful wedding! We smiled and enjoyed every moment, then went home and cried because he wasn't there. After a quiet, romantic honeymoon trip, Leigh and Neil settled into their new apartment where they lived until last summer when they bought their first home. They are one of the happiest, most committed couples I've ever known. Neil is the perfect husband for our Leigh and a great asset to our family. He has hung in there with us through some very difficult days, in every way a son and a true member of this family. We are blessed!