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I never
thought a hobby would lead to a marriage proposal. I began ballroom dancing
in the fall of 1994 when I took the Beginning Social Dance class at San
Jose State. Since the Intermediate Social Dance class was only offered
in the fall, I repeated the beginning course to keep in practice and perfect
some of my skills. I took the intermediate course in the fall of 1995.
I enjoyed it so much that I decided to join the Ballroom Dance Club in
the spring of 1996. I met new people and improved my skills. At the end
of the semester, I was elected treasurer for the next year. This meant
I would be at every meeting and I didn't have a car.
At the first
club meeting of Fall 1996, I made an announcement asking if there was anyone
who lived in my area and wouldn't mind giving me a ride home after club.
Mark Vivian said he lived very close and wouldn't mind at all. It seems
that his friend, Gerry Santos, had invited Mark and his friend and roommate,
Paul Cobbs, to come with him to club. He told them they could meet women
there. For the first few weeks, either Mark or Gerry gave me a ride and
Paul was always with them. Then, Mark had to stop coming to study for his
CPA exam. This meant that Paul would be driving me home. We had good conversations
on the way home and got to be good friends.
Then, as luck
would have it, we both decided to be in the swing routine. We got paired
up and a funny thing happened. We became each other's "security blanket"
during open dancing. We danced almost every dance together and became more
comfortable with each other. One night, Paul mentioned that he and his
friends might be going to San Jose Live! on Friday. I told him to call
me if they were going because I would love to come.
That night turned
out to be our first date. I started out dancing with the whole group, but
by the end of the night I was dancing with only Paul and getting closer.
( I later asked Paul what he was thinking that night. He said he felt a
streak of jealousy when he saw me dancing with his friends and wondered
why. He realized he must have feelings for me. ) The next week I stayed
at his house until 2:00 am every night. We talked and found out there was
more in common than a love of dancing.
We are three
weeks and two days apart in age. We graduated high school and college at
the same time. We were both in music, he in band and I in choir. I was
definitely falling in love. Then, on Thursday, he told me, "You know what
would be nice is if you fell asleep in my arms tomorrow night." My heart
absolutely melted. I spent the next two nights at his house. I spent all
of Thanksgiving week at his house. I was positive this was the man I wanted
to spend the rest of my life with. Then, on Wednesday, we started talking
about marriage and looking at rings. On Saturday, we went shopping for
a ring. Fate stepped in and we found the perfect ring. We decided to wait
to make it official. On Christmas Eve, he gave me the ring. It was the
best Christmas gift I have ever gotten. When we told our families they
were ecstatic. We set the date for July 19, 1997.
The wedding
turned out wonderfully. My mother-in-law, Barbara, made my gown. We designed
it ourselves adding little touches like hand-sewn pearls and a draw-string
train. My mother and sister, Teresa Stuefloten and Hannah MacKinnon, catered
the reception. The food was perfect. I owe a lot to them. We wrote our
own wedding words. We wanted them to be more meaningful and special. Everyone
loved them and we have even had requests for copies ( via the internet
). We had such a great time. We spent the wedding night at the Hilton Towers,
thanks to our friend, Lisa Perlman.
Then, three
days later, we set off for our honeymoon on Jamaica. We stayed at the Sandal
Resort at Dunn's River. Paul and I had taken scuba classes, but I became
ill the weekend we were to be certified. Paul was certified but I still
wasn't. Thanks to our instructor, Marty Townsend, I got to get certified
in Jamaica. The water was beautiful and warm, no wet suit needed. The Caribbean
is so beautiful. We had so much fun. We even climbed Dunn's River Falls!
We hated to leave, but normal life awaited us.
We are so happy
that we found each other. We never knew a hobby would lead to happily ever
after.
Click here to see my "special"
presents to Paul.
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