How I Met My Mate: True Love Calls

With Valentine’s Day approaching, Blue Ribbon News asked local couples how they met. Our annual “How I Met My Mate” feature is showcased in our latest print edition, with many more reader-submitted love stories to be shared online at www.BlueRibbonNews.com throughout February.

As promised, here’s the true love tale that brought Richard and I together:

(Originally published Jan. 31, 2013) A recent study posed this question to married people: If you could go back in time, would you remarry your spouse? One respondent said, “Yes, as long as I could fast forward through the rough spots.” Another admitted, “No, I’d run for the hills.”

When I asked my husband, there was no hesitation. “Of course I’d marry you again, dear.” After 24 years of marriage, he’s learned a thing or two.

I met Richard in 1987, when he dialed the wrong number. I’m convinced I was meant to answer that call.

I had just moved to Rockwall after graduating from Lamar University, leaving behind my job at the college newspaper and local television station. While searching for my dream journalism job, I took a position as a receptionist at an executive suite leasing office in downtown Dallas, answering phones for a handful of tenants who, for the most part, were never there.

For whatever reason, our phone lines were crossed with the Dallas County Courthouse that day, and dozens of calls were being routed to my switchboard by mistake.

I probably shouldn’t admit this, but I grew restless and bored – so I decided to amuse myself by placing callers on hold and forcing them to listen to country music. Occasionally I’d pick up the line and sing Hank Williams Jr’s “All My Rowdy Friends Have Settled Down,” and then I’d place the callers back on hold without giving them a chance to speak. It didn’t take long for them to hang up.

But not Richard. He held for nearly 45 minutes. Now why would anybody do that?

Turns out it was so he could ask me to dinner. (Apparently he was amazed that I knew the words to every Bocephus song ever written, and that I’d risk my job by singing “There’s a Tear in my Beer” over the telephone.) We exchanged home phone numbers, talked for days on end, and had a blind date of dinner and dancing two weeks later. (No, we didn’t go to a honky-tonk, but we did play Randy Travis’ “Forever and Ever, Amen” at our wedding.)

In honor of Valentine’s Day, we asked local couples to share stories about how they met. Their true love tales are featured in our special “How I Met My Mate” section in our February print edition, with many more reader-submitted stories to be shared online at www.BlueRibbonNews.com throughout February.

We will be randomly selecting three lucky couples from all of this year’s entries to win gift cards from Rockwall Body & Soul Massage, Samee’s Pizza Getti, and Dodies! If you missed our deadline, you can still share your story by emailing editor@BlueRibbonNews.com! Have a Happy Valentine’s Day!

By Dawn Redig, Publisher/Managing Editor, Blue Ribbon News.

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