Wow. In all the hustle and bustle of what’s been going on in the world, I forgot that yesterday was a pretty important day in my life. You see, 32 years ago yesterday, my life changed forever.
It started in a lecture hall at Texas A&M University in January, 1979. Yours truly was a freshman who started out in Pre-Med, but after one semester – and a tearful call home – I had decided to change my major to one which involved more math – Civil Engineering.
Well, the powers that be in the Engineering department told me that the Calculus class that I had placed out of as a Science major wasn’t really “the same as” the one they wanted Engineering majors to take, so I had to start all over again. I hadn’t changed my major until the spring semester started, so I missed the first “official” day of that class.
The next time that class met, I was sitting in a seat in the lecture hall, feeling quite lost since I didn’t know the professor’s name, office hours, etc. Some guy came in a little late to the class, looking all harried, and sat down in one of the few empty seats – right next to me.
He looked like someone I had met a couple of months earlier (which is why I thought he sat there), but I was busy taking notes, so I didn’t get a chance to get a good look at the guy. I did, however, glance over at his notes, because he had all of the professor’s information written down where I could see it.
Since I REALLY wanted that information, I kept looking over at his notes from time to time so that I could copy down what I needed to know. I thought I was doing a pretty good job of doing that unnoticed, but one time I glanced over, and the word “Koch” was written at the top of the page I’d been looking at – and it hadn’t been there before.
“Nah”, I thought to myself, “you just weren’t paying attention. That was probably there the entire time, but you just didn’t see it.”
Well, class ended, and I turned to the guy, and said the name of the person I THOUGHT he was, but as soon as I saw his face, I realized my mistake. I apologized for the mix-up and went back to my dorm to have lunch.
Over the next couple of weeks, though, this fella struck up a couple of conversations with me. It turned out that he lived off campus, and the bus that he caught to get to his place picked him up at the corner by my dorm. So we got in the habit of walking to my dorm after class and talking.
He was a sweet guy; really funny and very nice. He was from a very small town, and me – being from a larger town – found his “innocence” (for lack of a better word) quite charming. We were both pretty innocent, so we got along very nicely.
Well, one day he worked up the nerve to ask for my phone number. Actually, the conversation went more like this:
Him: So, do you have a phone?
Me: (Being a smart-aleck) Yes. (Thinking to myself as soon as the words were out of my mouth, “You dummy! Now you’ve scared him away!”)
Him: (Taken aback at first) Well, can I have your number?
Me: (Breathing a huge sigh of relief) Yes. (“Whew! You didn’t screw that up!”)
Him: (Pulls out his pen and his checkbook from his pocket) Okay.
Me: (Somewhat amused at his choice of “paper”) It’s 845-****. (I don’t remember the whole number)
Him: (Writes number on spine of checkbook) Thanks.
We get to my dorm/his bus stop, and part ways. I go to my room, and tell my suitemates that a guy asked for my phone number. Then I wait by the phone. And wait. And wait. And wait.
HE went to his next class, told his buddies he had gotten this girl’s phone number, and asks them if he should call me that day, or “Make her wait” until the next day.
Ernie Leyendecker (yes, I still haven’t forgotten YOUR name, buddy!) said, “Make her wait!”, so I didn’t get that phone call until the next day.
Well, the day he got my number was February 12th, and I remember thinking that maybe, just maybe, I would have a date for Valentine’s Day that year.
This sweet kid from the country calls me up the next day (Tuesday, February 13th), and asks me if I want to go out. On Friday. To the midnight movie.
Well, I really didn’t want to see the movie, but I really, REALLY wanted to see the guy, so I said, “YES!!!!!” (only I tried to sound really nonchalant about the whole thing).
Mr. Innocence says, “OK, I’ll come pick you up at your dorm room around 11:30, and we can walk to the Student Center together.”
Ummm….OK?
Well, we finally worked things out (his roommate called him an ass, and told him how a date was really supposed to go, so we met earlier that night for dinner – which is another story in and of itself).
The rest, as they say, is history. Thirty-two years later, we’re still together, and I have truly been blessed. I still wonder what I did “right” to deserve such a wonderful fella.
I remember being so mad at the Engineering department for making me take that class over again, but if I hadn’t, we never would have met. So I guess we were destined to meet.
And all these years later, he still wonders how it is that I remember “when” our first date was.
I tell him it’s simple – it was 2 days AFTER Valentine’s Day, and I was crushed (remember, I was 18) that I didn’t get anything on Valentine’s Day that year.
In the end, though, from the time of that first date on, I got to have Valentine’s Day every day of the year, so everything worked out.
And now my last name is Koch, too….. ♥
Just a couple of kids…..
Koch's Tour 
This is such a beautiful tribute!!
Hubby and I met in Calculus class, too, by the way. I remember what he was wearing, where we sat, and how he interrupted my conversation with a dreamboat who was a Ross Volunteer and a Singing Cadet.
Oh, and what dorm where you at? I am a Legett Longneck. One G, two Ts 😉
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I was in Krueger.
I guess that dreamboat wasn’t so dreamy after all, huh? ‘Cuz it sounds like hubs ended up with the gal…..
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When I was there, they were the Krueger Krugerands 🙂
Then they decided to change it to “Kuddlies”, and bears were the symbol. Heartbreaking, isn’t it?
They changed my Longnecks to Lovelies, or some such shit.
GAH!!!!
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I don’t know that we had a nickname per se (except one that started with a “K” sound, but that one wasn’t very nice).
The gals in Mosher were known as the “Mosher Nuns”, because they all voted to have their curfew on weeknights be at 9:00 p.m. rather than 10:00 p.m. They wanted to be able to roam the halls in their jammies without having to worry about running into other girls’ boyfriends.
My, how times have changed…..
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Was he about to cop a feel when that picture was taken?
It sure looks like he was thinking about it.
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What can I say? We were young and in love –
We’re still in love, but not so young – and there’s a lot more real estate involved (that has to be crossed) in copping a feel these days…..
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GROSS MOM
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🙂 ♥
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Sweet story and sweet photo too!
I met my husband at a blackjack table!!!
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Sounds like you drew a winning hand –
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Oh yeah. He says it was his biggest jackpot ever. *smiles dreamy smile
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My first encounter with Cathy was while I sitting in the common area of a dorm waiting for another chick — and I heard this stupendous burp coming from somewhere. The volume, tone quality and duration of that belch was truly awesome. Reminded me of my Mom.
True story.
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I suggest you blog about that, Batman. But first, you’re gonna want to make sure the Four Seasons can accommodate you until you find a new place to live….. 😉
Srsly, cute story!
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Excellent story. Thanks for sharing.
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Thanks for reading it! Sorry it took so long to approve your comment – I was off doing stuff around the house….
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Teresa, I think Brew was talking about the Cathy Belching Story™.
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Ooops…..
I saw it first on my e-mail!
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Awww, look how cute you kids were! Thanks for sharing.
I met my hubby when I was 15. I watched from afar and then pounced at the park – aiming for his hawt friend at first…….. I’m thinking we hit 32 years this past December.
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February 12th is a special day for Greg and me, too. We just celebrated 35 years of dating last Saturday. That and 27 years of marriage and two kids, if you want to get technical in an engineering sort of way.
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Congrats, Cuz! I didn’t realize it had been that long for you guys already! How cool is that – we both met our fellas in February –
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wow, you and Dad are such dorks. But I’m glad y’all met or I wouldn’t be here. you know how to pick ’em, mom. 🙂 I love you.
Sarah ❤
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Love you too, sweetie!
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Great story, Teresa!
Mr. RFH and I met in linear algebra class 26 years ago. I sat right behind him. The professor was late one day, so I struck up a conversation with this cute guy with the brown puppy-dog eyes. I asked him if he got problem #3 (no, I didn’t have any trouble with it, it was just an opening gambit), and we chatted for a while until the professor wandered in, then we passed notes back and forth.
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What is it about us gals and our math classes?
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The professor was late one day, so I struck up a conversation . . .
Slut.
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