Local couples share stories of how they met

(ROCKWALL, TX – Feb. 11, 2017) Editor’s Note: Each year at Valentine’s Day, Blue Ribbon News asks local couples how they met. Their stories are often sweet, funny and surprising. Sharing their tales of true love has become one of our favorite traditions – and one of our most wildly popular features.

Shelley and Brian Berry

Brian and I met on February 13, 1998 in College Station. I was a freshman at Texas A&M University and a member of the Chi Omega sorority. My sorority had a date party that night and being a freshman, I did not know many guys to ask and thus did not have a date. So, my big sister in the sorority wanted to set me up. She said she knew a perfect match for me! She said we had similar values and interests and that we came from similar backgrounds and families. Nervous, I agreed to the blind date.

That night I met Brian at my friend’s apartment and we proceeded as a group to the date party. We hit it off right away, dancing and having a great time at the event. We continued to have dates throughout our time at A&M but never got too serious.

It wasn’t until after a football game in 2000, when Brian had already graduated, that I ran into him again in Aggieland. As usual when we were together, sparks flew and we decided to date seriously this time. We dated for eight months when Brian proposed to me. After finishing up my master’s and planning our wedding, we got married exactly one year later, on June 15, 2002. We will celebrate 15 years of marriage this year! We have been blessed with three precious boys – Brady, Breck and Brooks – and I couldn’t be more grateful for the life we have.

Submitted by Shelley Berry, wife of Heath Mayor Brian Berry.

Charles and Oleta Peace

We met in church in 1937. I was 11 and Oleta was 10. We went to the same school and church, but all we did was make eyes at each other at the time! We didn’t have our first date until Halloween night. I was 16 and Oleta was 15. From there, the love story started.

We were 17 and 16 when we got married. The year was 1943 and the war was raging. We knew we wanted to get married and we had no time to waste. I went to the Navy in 1944 but was released three months later due to a knee injury. I never went to war.

I returned home and we had our first child in 1946. Times were hard then because the war had ravaged everything. We were living in Garrison, TX and I worked for a brick company. They transferred me to Houston and in 1949 our second child was born. Oleta was a stay-at-home mom and we lived in the brick yard in employee housing. We went to Dallas in 1966 and were self-employed for the next 21 years.

The years have gone by so fast. We had no time to look back. The Lord blessed us with many years together. In 2005, we moved from our farm in Timpson, TX to Rockwall to be by our two girls, because of health issues. We have been here for 11 years. You might ask us the secret of our 73 years of marriage. It is Christ first, family second and lots of hard work, faith and prayer.

Submitted by Charles Peace. He and his wife are Rockwall residents. Charles is celebrating his 91^st birthday this month!

Katy and Robert Miller

I could tell you a very romantic, magical story about how my husband and I met. However, I’m an honest woman, so I’ll tell you exactly how it happened.

I met Robert Miller in 2007 at The Garage, a bar in Denton, that he worked at while in college.

I looked at this blue eyed, shaggy haired guy wearing jeans and boots and I thought, I’m going to marry him. So, I walked up to him and asked him if he had a girlfriend. Caught off a little, he replied no. I suggested that he grab my number at the end of the night and at last call, he did just that. “So, can I still get that number?” he asked.

We dated for five years before Robert got down on one knee and asked me to marry him. On September 9, 2011, before God and loved ones, we promised to love each other unconditionally, cherish each other relentlessly, and honor each other thoroughly for at least as long as we live.

And here we are…five years later. We’ve created our home in Rockwall and have a one-year-old son, Lance, and two dogs, Luke and Bock. It’s truly humbling to look at the life we share and think that all of it originated from a bold move in a college-town bar.

Submitted by Katy Miller with Baylor, Scott, and White – Lake Pointe.

April and Chris English

The first time Chris and I laid eyes on one another was in the Lubbock airport in 2000. He worked for Copenhagen and was on the way to meetings dressed in a starched creased jeans, cowboy hat and boots. I was immediately smitten! We introduced ourselves and went our separate ways that day then ended up meeting again months later through mutual friends. We both had an interest in working out so I would make sure I happened to be at the gym during his same time; a girl’s gotta work out sometime, right?

Our first official date was April 21, 2001. It was an annual party that his fraternity held called Dream Girl. It was a weekend trip to float the Guadalupe River. Maybe not the best place for a first date? One of my high school friends had originally asked me to go and I guess that’s what finally prompted Chris to ask me out. Chris graduated that spring and moved to Dallas while I finished school. We kept in touch and continued “dating,” then I moved to Dallas the following year after graduation. For anyone who has dated a guy in their early 20’s, you can only imagine the next couple years of our relationship were…interesting. Needless to say he finally matured enough and asked me to marry him in May of 2006; we got married four months later.

We were blessed to celebrate our 10-year anniversary last year. We now have two amazing children and are excited to see what God has planned for us next.

Submitted by April English with English Insurance Group.

Robin and Mike Chouteau

Mike and I were first introduced in a grocery store in Red Rock, OK where I coached high school basketball. Mike’s cousins were on my team. The youngest, Ida, was forever telling me about Mike who was in the Navy and was totally handsome – but we never connected – until one day Ida said Mike was at the store and I “better come quick” if I wanted to meet him. I happened to be out of bread, so off we went, and there sat Ida’s Dad in the deli with a guy in coveralls. Ida introduced us; I shook Mike’s hand and went to the checkout. It was hard to determine the “good looking” factor through his hunting clothes, but he had a nice smile.

I didn’t hear much more about Mike until he was discharged from the Navy and came to a game. I asked if he’d like to go dancing. He said he had to help his aunt put up a Christmas tree. I was deflated.

The next day Mike wanted to know if I would like to ride horses. RIGHT. I ended up going, but during a game of tag, my horse lost her footing. I jumped off and landed on my stomach. Mike jumped off to rescue me, landing on a rock and twisting his ankle.

We had dinner at Ida’s that night, where I learned they never put up the Christmas tree. I nudged Mike to remind him that he turned me down for no good reason – but I must have nudged a little too hard because he yelled that I kicked his ankle. He mustered the strength to walk me to my car that evening. I will never forget; he leaned on my car, we were talking, and he grabbed me by my coat and pulled me in for a spectacular kiss.

I consider that horse riding adventure our first date. He proposed on Valentine’s Day. We married May 17, 1985, five months after our first date.

Submitted by Robin Chouteau. She and Mike own Honda Cars of Rockwall.